Magica: Gates of The Horizon
by Mopec
Summary: Homura's countless time reverse had a large effect on space and dimensions, releasing something that caused another incident. Reimu, Nanoha and their companions' interventions had created new problems while they're solving old ones. This is a story where a new unavoidable tragedy occured as they tried to break through breakable fate, where hope and despair intertwined.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello There. How do you do?**

**IMPORTANT (Edit: 16/6/2016): Please read this! I appreciate any criticism given by you (the reader) regarding my fanfic. But I mostly hope that if you are to give reviews regarding any casts' personality, please fill it in with more specific explanation. To be honest I won't be able to understand if you only give general review about the characters I used in this fanfic while in fact you are focusing on a certain character (saying all characters' personality is weak does not have the same meaning as saying a character's personality is weak). I also hope that you can provide me with your points, facts, sources, references etc. so that I understand your points are strong and reliable, and not just what you think to your liking (although I don't prefer to have fan-made sources or memes as your references). Well, that's that. **

**Oh, I have to tell you (again and again so that silly people won't complain) that I used Touhou Silent Sinner in Blue and Touhou Forbidden Scrolley as my sources for some (if not all) Touhou's characters. I DON'T use fan-made nor in-game personalities. Thank you for your understanding...**

**I had been reading some fan fiction of Puella Magi, Touhou and Nanoha and since I'm a little bored, I might as well write a story. This story may or may not inspired from another story and/or fan fiction. I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I did not own all the characters that I will be using in this story.**

**EDIT: 29/11/15 - For any new readers, welcome. This is a trilogy crossover fanfic between three worlds, so I hope you read all the chapters with ease :'3**

**By the way, I hope everyone had read Touhou Silent Sinner in Blue and Forbidden Scrolley for better understanding of Touhou's casts.**

**EDIT 4/12/2015 - I forgot to mention this. Since I'm using this fanfic as a first step to enhance back my composition skills, I hope that everyone can help me identify my weakness in grammar, punctuation and other thing that are related to composition. Thank you very much.**

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**Chapter 1: Unknown**

It was night time at Mitakihara. The streets are full of vehicles and pedestrians. Lights with all sorts of colour and size illuminate the city, making the city much more beautiful. To all the people who lived there, they thought they were living a normal life. Only a small number of them knew the horror that lies and silently disturbing the city. That night, two figure stood still at the top of a building.

"I guess this is the city. Well, I can't say I'm not impressed. Though I prefer to live in a quieter environment," One of the person said with a smile.

"Yes, milady. This is the city where a cruel fate and disaster will occur according to her. Not to mention it will affect us all." Replied the second person, standing behind the first one that she refered to as milady.

"When will the others come?" The first person asked again.

"Probably tomorrow's night or the next night after tomorrow," the second person answered. The first person nodded and smiled upon hearing the statement. Then both of them went silent, watching all the people walking around nearby the building.

"Hmm... I'm starting to get hungry by simply watching all these humans." The first person said while flapping her wings. "Shall we go?"

"Yes." Answered the second person as she understood what her master meant and wanted to do. Then both of the figure disappeared from the top of the building into the dark sky. Soon, strange things happened one after another.

...

Kaname Madoka stood at the front of a mirror, looking at herself. She yawned as she continued to comb her hair. The sun was rising as she put on her school uniform, getting ready to go to school. After she looked at herself on the mirror over and over again, she finally sighed. Madoka's behavior caught her mother's attention.

"What's wrong?" Her mother asked.

"Nothing, mom. It's just that I feel that I've been doing this repeatedly." Madoka replied with a smile. Her mind was wondering about strange dream that she had last night. She had the same dream for almost two days in a row. It was about a battle scene where she witnessed a girl fighting a huge monster with gears at the top. Then she talked to a strange creature. After that, white light flashes and blinded her eyes. She could not remember what happened after that.

"Well, you do go to school every day. So it makes sense that wearing your school uniform are your morning routine." Madoka's mother said as she patted Madoka's head.

"I guess you're right." said Madoka with a small laugh. After she had her breakfast, Madoka left the house. She met her two closest friends along the way to school. One of them had a short blue hair. While the other one had long and wavy green hair.

"Good morning, Madoka." The blue haired girl greeted Madoka, waving at her.

"Good morning, Sayaka." Replied Madoka as she looked at the girl. "And good morning to you too, Hitomi."

"Good morning." The green haired girl named Hitomi greeted back with a small giggle. The three of them talked about lots of thing as they continued to walk to their school. After a while, they went silent.

"Speaking of which," Hitomi then began another conversation. "Did you two watch the news this morning?"

"No I didn't," both Sayaka and Madoka answered at the same time.

"Just as I thought," Hitomi said with a sigh.

"You know I don't even bother to watch news, Hitomi," Sayaka replied proudly. Hitomi let out another sigh as she heard Sayaka said that. She knew that Sayaka was a type of person who was lazy enough to keep up to date with the news, except if it involves everything related to music.

"So... Anything interesting in this morning news?" Madoka asked.

"Well in the past two days, there had been a theft going on lately..." Hitomi answered as she started to begin.

"That's normal," Sayaka interrupted Hitomi without letting her to finish her sentence. It was obvious that Sayaka was not interested with the news. Hitomi let another sigh. That was the third time she sighed that morning.

"If it's a normal theft I wouldn't even bother telling you about it," Hitomi continued. "The most interesting yet mysterious part was every victim had a strange mark at their neck."

"Strange mark?" Madoka asked. What Hitomi had just said also attracts Sayaka's attention.

"Yes, two holes at their neck like a snake bite," Hitomi replied.

"Maybe a snake bites them. Then someone found them and took their money," Sayaka said without thinking.

"It's not a coincidence that every victim being bitten by a snake," Hitomi said. "Like I mentioned earlier, the police only found that strange mark at every victim's neck."

"So... Are the victims alright?" Sayaka asked back.

"Yes," Hitomi replied. "Although according to the police they're still unconscious at the hospital due to loss of blood."

"Wait! All of them lost their blood?" Madoka seemed surprised as she heard that.

"Yeah, although it's nothing serious as they lost just a small amount of blood," Hitomi answered.

"I see," Madoka replied with a relief. "I hope they're okay."

"Hmm..." Sayaka made a hum after she went silent for a length of time. It seemed to Madoka and Hitomi that their friend was in deep thought.

"What's wrong?" Hitomi asked while tilting her head.

"It's strange when you think about it. Snake like bite at victim's neck and loss of blood. Maybe it's a vampire," Sayaka replied as she made a scary looking face. Madoka let a small laugh while looking at her face. Then she looked at Madoka as if she was giving a hint. Madoka then realized what Sayaka meant by 'vampire'.

"But vampires don't need money," Hitomi replied. "So why would they steal if they're the one who attacked the victims?"

"That's... A good point..." Sayaka said with a disappointed tone. But she did not gave up in making another theory. Madoka just smiled as her two friend continued to exchange views. But at the same time, she also wondered about the incident and thought, _I feel sorry for the victims_.

Soon they arrived at their school. As they are on their way to their classroom, they could hear almost all of the students were talking about the same news that the three of them were just talking about before. Even their classmates talked about the news.

"Wow! I didn't expect that the incident to be a hot topic right now," Sayaka said with an amusing tone. "Not to mention that some of them make a same theory as I did."

"It is strange when you think about it. Strange bite at victim's neck, loss of blood and the thief took away the victim's money," Madoka said as she sat on her chair. Their conversation stopped as they saw a girl with black hair came into the classroom. The girl looked at Sayaka and Madoka with a cold eyes before she sat, completely ignoring them after that. Madoka looked at the girl for quite a while as she was the one who appeared in her dream, fighting a huge monster. It's been two days the girl had been in their class as a newly transferred student.

"That Akemi Homura..." Sayaka said with an annoying tone as she refered the girl as Akemi Homura. "Really irritates me."

"Don't say like that," Madoka replied. At the same time she also could not shook the fact that Homura are showing a little bit of hostility towards both of them. But she could also feel that Homura was showing lonliness as she gazed her purple eyes.

"And don't forget that she's the one who was trying to attack Kyuubey, Mami and us," Sayaka reminded Madoka of what had happen two days ago when they were at the shopping mall. Madoka recalled her memories of meeting Kyuubey and Tomoe Mami for the first time as well a creature known as a witch. That was also the first time she saw Homura being in a magical girl form.

Sayaka looked up at the ceiling as she was still wondering about the incident when their homeroom teacher, Saotome Kazuko arrived at the classroom. When all of the students went back to their own seat, she started ranting about whether her students like their fried eggs fully cooked or half cooked.

"She probably got rejected... again," Sayaka grinned at Madoka.

"She must've gotten rejected again," Madoka repeated back what Sayaka just said to her. Both of them smiled and giggled at their teacher's behavior as they remembered that their teacher also said the same thing two days ago. As soon as school was over, both Madoka and Sayaka decided to meet Mami at her apartment.

"Ah, both of you already arrived," said Mami with a smile when she opened the door and saw them. She was a fine looking girl with blonde hair tied into a drill-like twintail. Not to mention that she had a good figure that sometimes Madoka and Sayaka felt envy of her. She was their senior at their school, so it makes them feel safe especially around Homura.

As the three of them sat on the floor at the living room, Mami started their conversation, "So are you two ready to become a magical girl?"

"Not really since we still haven't figure what our wish are, right Madoka?" Sayaka replied, following with Madoka nodding while looking at Mami. "But more importantly, have you heard of the news this morning?"

"Yes," Mami answered.

"It seems the witch is going wild again, huh," Sayaka said in a serious tone.

"I think the thing that attacked the victim was not a witch although it seems to involve the witch," Mami pointed out. Sayaka seemed to make a confused face.

"Remember what I told you two about witches," She started to explain further. "All victim that fall into witch control will ended up die. But according to the news the victims didn't die. They just being unconscious due to loss of blood."

"I see," Sayaka thought that Mami also had a point.

"Although... I do felt a strong magical energy radiated for the past two days," Mami continued to explain again.

"So can you find the thing that attacked the victims?" Madoka asked. Mami just shooked her head.

"Unfortunately no," Mami replied. "I tried to chase it, but the energy always disappeared within a short time."

"Strange," Madoka said.

"But what's stranger was that they didn't take away grief seeds. They just simply left it near the victim," Mami said.

"You mean that the victim was under witch's control, but someone defeated the witch and then left the grief seed there?" Sayaka seemed surprised.

"Yes," Mami answered. They went silent for a while as they continued to eat a cake that Mami baked for the three of them.

"Well then, let's go on a witch hunt," Mami stood up after she cleared the dishes on the table. The other two girls nodded, as the activity was what they were looking foward to do. Soon they left Mami's apartment and went into the city.

"By the way, where is Kyuubey?" Madoka suddenly asked.

"Now you've mentioned it, I haven't seen him either," Sayaka noticed that Kyuubey was not with them.

"Maybe he wandered off on his own to find and recruit someone with magical powers," Mami said with a smile. They continued to pass the lively city and went towards an area with abandoned buildings. According to Mami, witch's activity mostly appeared at places where their victim can conduct a suicide. No one knew about the witch as they could not see the barrier that surrounded the witch.

"I can feel that this is the place where the witch are," Mami said as they arrived at a large abandoned building. She raised her hand to open up the barrier set up by the witch. They went inside with full cautious. Both Madoka and Sayaka felt that there was nothing to worry as their senior are protecting them. They witnessed again their senior fighting gracefully against witch's familiars, conjuring dozens of muskets and fired it towards the familiar. Sayaka was more excited than Madoka when it comes to fighting witches as she lived up a 'hero of justice' ideal inside her heart.

As Mami continued to fight swarms of familiars, she stopped all of the sudden. Even the witch's familiars that attacked the three girls stopped and looked at certain direction, as if they were bothered by something. Then all the familiars went towards the direction.

"Okay, that was weird," Sayaka said with a confused tone. "Usually the familiars attacked us without halting."

"I can feel it," Mami spoke after she closed her eyes, trying to feel something.

"What is it?" Sayaka asked.

"I can feel the strong magical energy, and it's overlapped with the witch's energy," Mami replied with an unease tone. "I think we better hurry."

"Is it Homura?" Madoka asked.

"I don't think its Homura," Mami replied. They went further inside the witch's territory, hoping to find anything that emit's strong magical energy. They did not see familiars lingering around to attack them as they continued running. As they were on the way towards the witch, all of the sudden the witch's barrier started to crumble.

"Hey, what's happening? Did someone already take down the witch?" Sayaka asked.

"I'm afraid so," Mami answered. "Although I could still feel strong magical energy. We have to be prepared."

As soon as the barrier vanished, they saw the witch's victim lying in front of them. Then they saw two figures standing while looking at the victim. Madoka gasped as she saw something unusual at one of the two figures. The two figures noticed the three of them and turned.

"Looks like we're lucky that I got three more meal for me," one of the figure said.

"M-meal?" Madoka stuttered as she carefully looked again and again at the figure. It was a small petite girl with short light blue hair, red eyes and wearing a light pink mob and dress. She showed a small fang as her mouth curved a small smile. The thing that made Madoka gasped earlier was she had a wing similar to a bat's wing.

"Yes, milady," said another figure. Now Sayaka seemed confused as she examined the second figure. She was a tall lady with beautiful figure, wearing an outfit similar to those the waitress wore at a maid-themed cafe. She had a short silver hair and braided sideburn.

"Whoa! Are you two into cosplay or something?" Asked Sayaka while raising one of her eyebrow. Then she looked at the petite girl in purple. "And this is not a safe place for you to play around kid."

"Hmm, this is interesting. It seems my appearance let your eyes fool you," said the petite girl.

"What do you mean by that, young girl?" Mami asked. The petite girl did not bother to answer the question as she suddenly released an aura that even Madoka, Mami and Sayaka could feel the shivering at their spine. Before the three of them could do anything, the lady in maid outfit suddenly appeared behind them.

"I hope you won't try to force you way out," the lady said with a smile. But they could feel that behind the smile lies a threatening tone. The petite girl slowly raised the witch's victim. Madoka, Sayaka and Mami surprised as the girl slowly bite the victim's neck. After a minute the girl let go of the victim and looked at the three of them with a smile, feeling satisfied. They could see blood dripping from her mouth, leaving stains on her clothes. They could not believe what they had just seen. The petite girl just drank blood from a person.

"My, my. Don't look at me with that awful look on your face," the girl spoke again. "I guess I'll let you three go as I've already had my meal, but on one condition."

"I had a bad feeling about this," Mami spoke in a whisper tone after she went silent. But no one notice what she had just said.

"So you're the one who attacked someone. You monster!" Sayaka gathered the courage to shout at the girl. All of the sudden, she could feel a cold steel wraping beside her neck. At the end of her eye, she could see the lady in maid placed a knife at her.

"Sayaka!" Madoka shouted.

"Release her at once!" Mami aimed a musket at the lady. But she didn't seemed to surprised with Mami's action.

"I appreciate you don't insult milady like that," the lady spoke in a cold tone.

"Do not harm her," The petite girl suddenly ordered the tall lady. The lady slowly put down her knife and bowed towards the girl. Then the girl slowly floats towards them. The three girls especially Mami was surprised. Madoka, Sayaka and even Mami had not seen a magical girl that could float before.

"I apologize for my maid's action." the girl spoke again after carefully examined the three girls. Then she fixed her eyes at Sayaka. "Then again, you sure have the courage to shout at me. Usually humans will be terrified as soon as they saw me. You have my praise, girl."

"Does that mean... you're not a human?" This time it was Madoka who had the courage to ask the girl. In her mind, if the girl was a human then she would not talk as if she was not one.

"Does a human drink blood?" The girl answered Madoka's question with a question. The three of them could not answer the question although they know the answer.

"So does that mean you're a vampire?" now it was Mami who gathered up the courage to ask the girl.

"Yes, you are correct," the girl said with a big grin and put both of her hands on her hips as if she was proud when someone mentioned the word 'vampire'. The three of them could not believe that the girl had just claimed to be a vampire. In their mind, vampires only exist in myth and fairy tale.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Remilia Scarlet, and my maid behind you three is Izayoi Sakuya." The three of them looked at the lady in maid outfit which Remilia refered to as Sakuya, who smiled and bowed slightly towards them. "And it wouldn't hurt you three if you all state your name as well, am I right?"

"I am Tomoe Mami, and this is Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka," Mami started their introduction. Remilia Scarlet looked at Sayaka with a big grin as she slowly floats towards her. Sayaka on the other hand tried to avoid Remilia as she could not stand the smell of blood on her, but she was afraid that her action will invoke the petite vampire's anger.

"I started to like you, Miki Sayaka," Remilia spoke again, which made Sayaka blush upon hearing her. "You had the courage to oppose someone you don't know, although you're not confident whether you could win or not. But let me tell you, your courage may or may not bring you into darkness."

"What do you mean?" Sayaka asked.

"That will be the riddle you'll have to find the answer for yourself," Remilia replied with a smile.

"You said that you'll let us go with one condition right?" Madoka asked, hoping that the condition was not that they will not become Remilia's meal.

"We hope that we will not become your meal too," Sayaka stated what Madoka had just thought. It seemed that she also thought the same thing as her. Mami gave Sayaka a look that she should not said such thing.

"Well let's see. Before I state the condition, we might as well go to one of your house first." Remilia said. The three girls felt uneasy upon hearing Remilia saying that. It was as if she had something in her mind which they would not like it. But they could not disagree towards the petite vampire's demand. It was Mami who led all of them to her apartment, as she was the only one who lived alone. But as soon as they started walking, Sakuya went by Remilia's side and whispered something. After a few second, Remilia smiled and nodded at Sakuya.

"Well then. Something just came up and I suppose I'll let you go," Remilia then spoke towards the three girls. Madoka and the others smiled as they heard Remilia said that. "... but it will be for today that is. Until then, have a nice day."

As soon as Remilia said that, Sakuya and her walked away. The three girls let out a big sigh as they felt relieved that Remilia did not do anything harm towards them. From afar, Homura was standing at the top of a building after she finished chasing and eliminating Kyuubey around the area. Her eyes widened as she saw the newcomer who she did not know, even in the previous timeline. _What's going on? This isn't what I've experienced before. Who were those two girls?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello there. I think its been a week since I first published the first chapter of this crossover fanfic. So now here it is... the second chapter of the crossover series... enjoy.. (0w0)b**

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Chapter 2: Time vs Time

Madoka could not sleep well that night. She was wide awake as she kept having dream of Remilia and several girls that she have not seen nor met before. Madoka looked at her table clock; it was 10:30 PM. She recalled back her memories of what had happened that evening.

...

"Man, what's really going on here?" Sayaka moaned as soon as she sat on the floor. Madoka, Sayaka and Mami gathered at Mami's apartment after they met Remilia and Sakuya for the first time. "Are we going to fight a vampire now?"

"But are they both really an enemy? They seemed nice," Madoka stated.

"They must be our enemy," Sayaka argued. "Never let our eyes fool us. She said that herself."

"But they didn't hurt us," Madoka still are not sure whether Remilia and Sakuya will be a threat towards magical girls and humans in general.

"They let us go just because they seemed they had other thing to do. Not to mention that Remilia girl sucked and drank blood from the witch's victim in front of us. Geez, just looking at her smiling with blood dripping from her mouth gives me the creep. I think Mami also share the same thought as me. Right, Mami?"

Madoka and Sayaka looked at Mami who kept silent ever since they walked out from the abandoned buildings area up until now. It seemed that she was in deep thought about what they had just witnessed. Then Mami snapped out of her thought as Sayaka waved her hand in front of her and spoke, "Y-yes?"

"Are you okay?" Madoka asked. She was worried if their senior was hurt since her face was pale.

"I'm alright. It's just that..." Mami trailed off for a minute before she continued. "... I couldn't do anything to protect you two."

"It's okay since they let us go unharmed," Madoka smiled, trying to ease her senior's mind.

"But that maid managed to go behind us and threatened me with a knife. How did she appeared behind us all of the sudden!?" Sayaka said in an angry tone.

"Sayaka's right. We would've been hurt by that vampire's maid," Mami agreed with what Sayaka just said. "It seems she had the same ability just like Homura."

"You mean Homura could appear and disappear like that maid Sakuya did?" Sayaka seemed surprised as neither she nor Madoka know what Homura ability was.

"Yes. Though her weapons are mainly armament," Mami answered.

"I think we should ask Kyuubey whether he knows about this. Maybe both of them are new type of witch," Sayaka suggested. But Mami shook her head instead of agreeing with Sayaka's suggestion.

"That wouldn't be possible," Mami said as she shuffled her hand into her school uniform pocket. Then she took out a small piece of paper. "It seems they left us this note."

Madoka and Sayaka's eyes widened as the three of them read the content on the paper.

_We hope you'll cooperate with us by telling no one. If you do managed to break this taboo, rest assure that you may not see tomorrow's daylight._

The three of them looked at each other, speechless. They did not know what to do after they read the note; should they ask and tell Kyuubey or not? If they do, then they may face unexpected consequences, especially after they witness what Remilia and Sakuya was capable of. It was Madoka who started their conversation after a long silence, "I think we should follow the instruction that Remilia and Sakuya left at us."

"But they will hurt someone if we kept silent like this," Sayaka was dissatisfy with Madoka's suggestion.

"I think Madoka had a point. It's best for us to keep silent about this. Who knows what they'll do to us if we tell anyone including Kyuubey about this," now Mami agreed with Madoka's point of view. Sayaka made a dissatisfy look before she finally nodded in agreement. After all, Mami was the one who had more experience when dealing with all those sort of thing than her. So it makes sense that she had to follow her advice.

"We haven't seen Kyuubey anywhere today. Where the heck is he when we need him most!?" Sayaka frowned again as she did not saw Kyubeey lingering around them. Usually he was the one who followed them no matter where they went, especially Madoka. But that evening he was nowhere to be found.

"Well just like I said before, maybe he's wandering around on his own trying to recruit new magical girls," Mami forced herself to smile as she replied Sayaka's frown although her mind still thinking about Remilia and Sakuya. While inside Madoka's mind, she felt that she could trust both of them although Remilia tends to drink human's blood in front of them earlier.

"Oh yeah, I've a random question," Mami and Sayaka looked at Madoka who was trying to ask something. "I wonder why miss Remilia was able to come out during daytime."

"We're sorry, Madoka. We didn't know about it either since we're not miss Remilia. Maybe you should ask her yourself if you've got the chance to meet her again," Mami replied. Sayaka in the other hand tried her best not to face palm upon hearing Madoka's question. Madoka let out a small laugh as she was embarrassed by her own silly question.

...

"I really wonder if they're also an enemy," Madoka muttered as she blinked her eyes several times, looking at the ceiling. She knew that she was not supposed to think about the matter since she had school to attend tomorrow. But she could not shrug her mind from thinking about Remilia and Sakuya. Soon she fell asleep and drift into the realm of dreams once again.

Meanwhile...

Homura was running across the alleys in Mitakihara city, patrolling to find some witch. Every few minute she could sense there are witch's barriers activated. But the moment she arrived the witch had already been taken down, leaving the grief seed behind. Homura started to get annoyed as she did not know who had defeated the witches. But at the same time she was confused because the one who defeated the witches did not took the grief seed with them.

"What is really happening here?" Homura muttered. "I don't experience this in the previous timeline. Who defeated all those witches!?"

Then a moment later she could sense another witch appeared not far away from her. At the same time, she had an idea. Gears inside her buckler shield on her left hand clicked as the world around her turned monochrome; she stopped the time around her. She made a swift run towards the witch that had appear. She stopped her ability as soon as she arrived and tried to pass through the witch's barrier. But the barrier crumbled and vanishes as soon as she was inside. Homura quickly find a place to hide, hoping that she could discover and identify the culprit. There she saw two figures stood beside the grief seed that was lying on the floor. She could not believe that the figures are the one that she saw talking to Madoka and the others that evening. She thought that if those two could defeat a witch, then they must be magical girls.

"Humph! There's no human again inside this barrier," Remilia said with a disappointed tone, picking up the grief seed before threw it back on the floor. "And the only thing that monster left us is that orb item."

"Not to worry, milady. I'm sure we'll find another monster with humans inside their barrier," Sakuya tried to cheer Remilia up. Homura barely heard what the two of them were saying. But in her mind the way both of them talked were as if they were not human. Furthermore, she could not believe that Remilia threw away the grief seed since she assumed that Remilia and Sakuya were magical girls just like her.

"Milady, should we worry about the three girls that we've met earlier?" Sakuya asked.

"Hmm... Miki Sayaka, Tomoe Mami and Kaname Madoka right?" Remilia asked. Sakuya nodded and Remilia shooked her head in response. On the other hand, Homura's eyes widened as she heard the name Madoka being mentioned by Remilia. She could feel that she did not like whatever comes out from Remilia's mouth after this.

"I don't think they'll be a threat to us. Besides, we've left a note on one of them right? So if they told anyone else then I suppose we'll..." Remilia stopped as she heard clicking sound behind her. She looked behind just to see Homura pointing a gun at her head.

"My, my. Don't you think it's rude to appear out of nowhere and pointing something at me just like that?" Remilia asked with a grin. Homura flinched when she heard a little girl said something like an old women would. But she did not care about that matter because Madoka's safety is more important to her.

"Look! I don't know who you are, kid. But if you try to hurt Madoka, then I'll have to eliminate you now and here," Homura threatened Remilia. Her cold eyes met Remilia's gaze. However Remilia was unfazed but instead she laughed. Homura was surprise that Remilia did not even quiver with the gun pointed at her.

"What's so funny?" Homura growled.

"You're the second person to call me a kid. So if I'm going to do anything to those girls, are you going to harm me with that thing on your hand?" As usual Remilia answered a question with a question. Homura could not hold her anger any longer. The moment the pulled the trigger, Remilia and Sakuya disappeared in front of her.

"Where did they go?" Homura muttered.

"We're right here," Remilia responded.

"How did...?" Homura was surprised when she saw the two of them appeared behind her.

"I assume you wanted to ask how we appeared behind you. Well who knows," Remilia interrupted Homura. Her grin made Homura's anger rose. She had no choice but to freeze time and threw several small bomb towards them. She thought that should at least do some damage to Remilia and Sakuya. Homura watched the bomb explode as she unfroze the time. The explosion had created a smokescreen, making it difficult for Homura to view her opponent.

"I'm impressed that you could throw that many explosive items in a split second," Homura could hear Remilia's voice coming from inside the smoke. As the smoke dissipated, her eyes widened as she saw a barrier was created by Sakuya to deflect the bombs and explosion created.

"Sakuya," Remilia contiued. Sakuya nodded at her master since she knew what her master wants her to do. Before Homura could do anything, Sakuya had disappeared from her sight. Then all of the sudden she could feel someone pointed a sharp object behind her. She turned her head around and saw Sakuya was holding a knife.

"I suggest you should give up. Who knows what will happen if you don't," Sakuya said with a smile. The moment she finished talking, she could hear something clicking from Homura's buckler before Homura disappeared. The only thing that appeared around her was dozen of grenades, waiting to explode. While she could see Homura was just not too far away from her. Sakuya disappeared out of Homura's sight just before the grenades exploded. Homura quickly scanned around just to see knives being thrown at her in straight line.

"What the-!?" Homura gasped as she barely stopped time and tried to avoid the knives due to its agility. The second she saw Sakuya in front of her during that moment, she quickly pulled out a submachine gun and shoot dozens of bullet. The moment she unfreeze the time, she saw Sakuya managed to put up a barrier to deflect the bullets before she disappeared again. Homura did not manage to observe her surrounding as Sakuya managed to point a knife behind her again. Once again Homura activated her ability and turned around, pulling a handgun. Her eyes widened as Sakuya was nowhere to be seen.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Homura startled as she hardly believe she could hear a voice behind her during the time froze. She slowly turned around just to see Sakuya smiled at her. She was speechless, trying to comprehend the situation.

"This world seemed peaceful and quiet, yet it felt like this is a dead world for me and you," Sakuya continued, ignoring confused Homura.

"How is this possible!?" Homura still could not believe Sakuya could move and talk.

"Simply put, I'm also being able to stop, slow and speed up time. So I had this wonderful theory when I saw lots of explosive item that you've used appeared all of the sudden, and I was right," Sakuya smiled as she slowly walked towards Homura. On the other hand Homura took steps backward to put on a distance between Sakuya and her.

"Remember when I threw knives towards you?" Sakuya asked. Homura hastily nodded while she cautiously on her guard for another possible assault. "It seems you didn't realize it yet. But the edge of your skirt was ripped off a little bit by it. If your ability is teleporting, then my knives wouldn't hit you nor tear your clothes."

Homura looked at her skirt and saw what Sakuya had just told her. She let out a small growl as she looked back at Sakuya. In her mind, she was too careless to leave unexpected evidence that had led her opponent to know her ability.

"How did you manage to avoid from being affected by my magic?" In Homura's mind, although Sakuya had the same magic ability as her, she could not avoid from affected by her magic.

"I took a cue," Sakuya replied.

"A cue?"

"Yes. You always 'disappeared' the moment the device on your left hand made a clicking sound. So I had a thought that if I activate my ability at the same time as when I heard the clicking sound, I won't be affected by you," Sakuya explained furthermore.

"But why didn't you use your magic ability avoid the bullets that I shoot at you?" Homura raised up her voice.

"I need to put myself into a trap in order to deceive an enemy. As you seemed to unsure of what my ability was, so I've put a little play," Sakuya pointed out. Homura had no idea that Sakuya were that wise in observing her opponent. She was speechless. She gritted her teeth as she now knew she was facing a very intelligent foe. "So, what will you do? If you had the same ability as me, I think something that we throw will end up being affected by our ability. Though I'm still be able to use my knife in engaging close melee combat with you."

Although Homura did not like what Sakuya had just said but she had no other choice but to surrender, since she was inexperience in close ranged combat. Moreover her soul gem started to darken, indicating that she needs to cleanse it. "I give up. You win."

"Wise choice, little girl. Now then, undo your ability before I undo mine. Not to worry as I promised milady and I won't hurt you if you cooperate. Unless you pull another trick after this," Sakuya praised her with a smile, though Homura did not like being called 'little girl'. Homura sighed as she undoes her ability. After Sakuya saw Homura was enveloped with the monochromed world, she also undoes her ability. Now they were back at their normal, colourful world where the time flowed like normal.

"It seems you're a little bit lost there girl," Remilia gave Homura a big grin, assuming that Sakuya won in their duel. Homura on the other hand just gazed at Remilia without saying a single word. She showed a little bit of dislike towards Remilia's attitude. But she chose not to engage in another duel.

Sakuya walked beside Remilia and whispered something. Remilia then just smiled and nodded. While Homura revert from her magical outfit into her school uniform. She then took out a grief seed from her pocket and placed it near her soul gem, allowing it to absorb the contaminants that had tainted the soul gem. Remilia observed Homura with full of amusement.

"Hmm, so that's how that item was used," Remilia muttered.

"Aren't you two going to change back and cleanse you soul gem?" Homura asked as she handed over two grief seed towards Remilia and Sakuya.

"We apologize because we don't know what you're talking about. I can only assume that you want us to use that orb on something like that on your hand," Remilia replied as she pointed her finger towards Homura's soul gem.

"Why are you talking as if you don't have a soul gem?" Homura continued to ask.

"That's because we don't have anything of what you called a soul gem," Remilia replied. Homura's eyes widened as she could not believe what Remilia had just said.

"That's impossible," Homura argued. "Then how come that girl in maid outfit use magical power if neither she nor you have soul gem?"

"We simply don't need the soul gem to use magic because we can use magic on our own," Remilia explained. Homura tried so hard to understand Remilia's explaination. She still could not believe that someone could use magic without the soul gem.

"I think you've mistaken both of us as your kind," Remilia pointed out. "If so then let me ask you, have you seen someone with the soul gem that can do this?"

Once again Homura's eyes widened the moment she witnessed Remilia turned into bats before she reappeared few inches away in front of her. She was taken aback and took a few steps back. Remilia let out a small laugh when she saw Homura's reaction.

"Oh my, you sure reacted like those three girls that I've met earlier. I wish you could see own face when you're surprised." Remilia teased as Homura tried to regain her cold expression. Although she was still be unable to believe what she just saw, but Homura had to accept the fact that Remilia was different from magical girls. If she was a witch, she would not kill another witch since Homura have not seen such things happened in her previous timeline.

"If you're not a magical girl, then what are you?" Homura asked another question.

"Oh, I believe we haven't introduce ourselves yet. I am Remilia Scarlet and this is my maid, Izayoi Sakuya. Simply put, I'm a vampire that humans grew fear of for decades." Remilia smiled as she was proud of herself being a vampire.

"V-vampire!?" Homura stuttered. "But that's..."

"Impossible? Unreasonable? Just a myth? If you had a thought like that, then I'll have to say that your knowledge about the world is still small and narrow. Thus you need to learn more," Remilia interrupted before Homura could finish her sentence. Homura was taken aback by Remilia's remark, however she made a choice not to agrue furthermore with someone who seemed older than her although she looked like a little girl.

"If you want me to proof you whether I'm a real vampire or not, then let me have a feast on your blood," Remilia continued while releasing an evil aura. Homura started to feel chill running down her body, causing her to feel the fear towards new threat. Her face stiffened as she waited for possible assault. As soon as Remilia saw Homura's reaction, she let out another small laugh.

"Oh dear, don't be too serious. I'm just teasing you. Sakuya told me earlier that we wouldn't hurt you if you cooperate with us. So I guess I won't bite and drink your blood," Remilia grinned. While Homura once again tried to regain her normal expression back. She felt embarrassed that she let Remilia teased her although she found that Remilia's excited face seemed cute, like those of a child who found an interesting toy.

"So does that mean your maid Sakuya is also a vampire?" Homura continued to ask.

"No, she's just a human just like you. But she possesses a unique ability which you yourself had witnessed," Then Remilia politely asked, "Now that you know about the two of us, may you introduce yourself?"

"Akemi Homura," Homura replied short. "Just call me Homura."

"Well then Homura, I know you have a lot of question to ask. But I believe this place is unsuitable for quiet and further discussion. Why don't you lead us the way to your house," Remilia said with a smile. Although Homura did not like the idea of bringing Remilia and Sakuya to her apartment, she agree with the suggestion. It was also to avoid them from being seen by Kyuubey, although he would not want to be near Homura since she showed hostility towards them. Also it seemed that their fight had attracted people nearby, which indicate they have to withdraw from the area before they were seen.

...

"Hmm, this place looks quite fancy. It may fit Pache quite well if its very spacious. Am I right, Sakuya?" Remilia started a conversation as soon as they stepped inside Homura's apartment. Both Remilia and Sakuya could only saw floating picture frame with odd information and pictures on them. Simple furniture and various sizes of gears at the ceiling decorated the rather empty room. It seemed to them the room was enhanced with magic to make it look like that though they did not bothered to ask.

"Yes, milady," Sakuya smiled as she replied.

"Pache?" The word suddenly came out from Homura's mouth.

"Ah, just my friend," Remilia answered. "I think she will be coming tonight,"

"I see. Have a seat, miss Remilia and miss Sakuya," Homura humbly said. Remilia nodded and sat opposite Homura. While Sakuya only stood behind Remilia.

"Well Homura, shall we begin with your questions?" Remilia asked. Homura only nodded in response, indicating that she was ready.

"First of all, where did you two come from?" Homura asked after she took a deep breath a few time.

"The two of us came from a place called Gensokyo. It was a place where all supernatural being co-exist. Though there are also normal human beings just like you," Remilia elaborated her answer. Homura on the other hand seemed surprised as that was the first time she heard that place.

"Where is this place called Gensokyo?"

"You won't be able to find it anywhere since it's protected by a boundary which you humans couldn't see with your naked eyes," Remilia replied.

"I see. So what is your purpose coming to this city?" then Homura asked another question.

"Simply put, there's a lot of incident happening lately at Gensokyo and after some investigation, we found out that the source of the incident are from outside Gensokyo. That's why we went outside to investigate this incident," Remilia answered.

"Incident?"

"The monster with some barrier incident," Remilia continued. Homura nodded and knew that what Remilia meant by monster was the witches.

"And after that?"

"We'll try to solve the incident," Remilia grinned as she answered. Homura seemed unhappy to hear her answer.

_Impossible_, Homura thought.

"Well then, are you done with your question?" Remilia asked.

"One more question," Homura replied.

"And that would be...?"

"Why are you attacking humans and drink their blood?" Homura asked. Remilia let out a small laugh as soon as she heard the question.

"I'm a vampire, that's why," Remilia smirk. "I do need to drink blood. However if you can provide me large amount of blood, perhaps I won't attack the humans."

"What about the money that both of you stole?"

"We also need food to survive. And to do that we need money," Remilia replied.

"I see," then an idea came to Homura's mind. "You said you'll stop attacking human and drink their blood if I provide you with large amount of blood right?"

"Yes."

"I think I know the place," said Homura.

"Oh you do? Then I'll let Sakuya come with you to get those for me," said Remilia. Sakuya nodded in response. Homura on the other hand wanted to object the suggestion, but she chose not to say anything. It did not take long for Sakuya and Homura to obtain what Remilia requested. Homura put a box on a table. As soon as Remilia the box, she saw it contained large quantity of blood packets.

"Oh my, it's my favourite type of blood," Remilia said excitedly as she recognized the smell of the blood. "You have my praise, Homura."

"I'm glad that Sakuya was there to help me in finding your favourite type of blood," Homura said. She felt relieved that Remilia was not disappointed. Sakuya walked towards Remilia and whispered something into her ear. Remilia just smiled and nodded in response.

"Well, I guess I have to go. It seems Pache had arrived," Remilia spoke as she stood up. Sakuya carried the box full of blood packet.

"I thank you for this blood packet. I suppose I'll need your help again in obtaining more of these," Remilia smiled before Sakuya and her walked towards the door. Homura just nodded, looking at both of them leaving her apartment.

"This can't be happening. Too much unexpected things happened," Homura muttered after she went silent for a few minute. Homura stood up and quickly left her apartment, hoping that she was not too late. "I hope thing won't get worse. Now I had to go and kill that person before she creates some problem in this timeline."

* * *

**Author's note (^^;):**

**Ah, I nearly forgot to put this. As you can see, the battle between Homura and Sakuya are only based on my assumption. **Especially their conversation during time stop or freeze, I can only imagine what it would be like they invoke their ability at the same time.****

****I had a thought that I might try to spice things up on the upcoming chapter, depending whether the situation in the story is suitable or not. It'll be a surprise (^^;).****


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Encounter**

"Good morning, Madoka," the person greeted like that as she approached Madoka with a smile on her face, was Sayaka.

"Good morning, Sayaka," replied Madoka, returning the smile.

"How's your night? Did you had a good night sleep?" Sayaka asked.

"Well, I did had a dream of Remilia and several other girls that I've never met before. But its not a scary dream," Madoka tried to recall her dream.

"Lucky for you," Sayaka sighed before she continued. "I had a nightmare last night."

What did you dreamt of?" Madoka asked.

"I dreamt of Remilia trying to suck my blood and her face was stained with blood. Man, why am I the only one being haunted by her!?" Sayaka frowned. "I hope we wouldn't encounter her again."

Madoka just smiled at her without saying anything. She felt sorry for Sayaka because she kept haunted by Remilia's image. Soon they arrived at their school. The moment they went inside their classroom, they saw Homura sitting on her desk.

"Weird," Sayaka whispered at Madoka's ear. "She usually looked at us with her cold attitude. But today she didn't even bother to do that."

"Maybe she's tired," Madoka replied. They resumed their daily life as a student like nothing extraordinary had happened to them before. Time seemed to pass so fast when the school bell rang, indicating it was already lunch time.

...

Homura stared blankly at her desk. She had no appetite to go to the cafeteria and eat something. Her mind was bothered by what had happened last night. She had made her plans carefully so that she would succeed. But the result was the opposite of what she expected to see.

"Unexpected things occur one after another. There's no way she knew my plan," Homura muttered. "I will go there again tonight and I hope I will found her."

Homura nearly jumped as she suddenly felt a hand touched her forehead. She quickly looked up and saw it was Madoka. She gazed her pink eyes for a few second before looking away.

"A-are you okay, Homura? You look pale. Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Madoka asked.

"I'm alright. No need to worry about me," Homura replied in her usual cold voice. She stood up and left the classroom. Madoka tried to follow her, but she was stopped by Sayaka.

"Let her be, Madoka. As long as she doesn't bother us, we shouldn't worry too much about her," Sakaya said.

"I'm worried about her health. After all, she just got out from the hospital," Madoka replied.

"Oh I forgot. You're our class health representative. I'm sure you don't want the teacher to blame you if anything happens to Homura," said Sayaka. Madoka just nodded. But finally she decided to leave Homura alone since it seemed to her that she was alright. After the school ended, Madoka and Sayaka had planned to meet Mami at the front of the school gate before they go for witch hunting.

"Ah, there she is," Sayaka spoke as soon as she saw Mami. "Mami."

"You two already here," Mami smiled. "Are you ready to go for a witch hunt?"

"You bet I am," Sayaka replied enthutiantically. Madoka only smiled and nodded. Just before they started walking they saw a white creature that they were familiar with, walking towards them.

"There you are, Kyuubey! Where were you all this time?" Sayaka spoke in a disappointed tone.

"I was on the other city since yesterday. Is there something that you need from me?" replied Kyuubey. His face did not even change since he used telephathic ability to communicate. "Or perhaps you already have something to wish?"

"No. We've been looking for you because lately there's..." Before Sayaka could finish her sentence, Mami tugged her sleeve. Mami gave her a sign that she should not tell Kyuubey anything, especially regarding Remilia and Sakuya. Sayaka quickly closed her mouth with her hand.

"Is there something happening here lately?" asked Kyuubey.

"No, nothing. It's just that the witches kept appearing quite a lot recently," Mami tried her best to explain, making sure that she did not give any hint about Remilia.

"I see. So are you three going for a witch hunt?" Kyuubey asked.

"Yup," Madoka replied. "Are you going to join us, Kyuubey?"

"I suppose I will go with you since I didn't have any other important matter to do right now," Kyuubey answered as he leaped onto Madoka's shoulder. They took a tour around the city like they usually do. While they were busy searching for witches, they did not realized that someone was trailing them silently from above the buildings.

"So Mami really does have two new magical girl candidates, just like Kyuubey said," the person muttered. "Well, I think I should go back before they notice me."

...

"I'm exhausted," said Sayaka as she was finally be able to sat down at Mami's apartment after hours of endless walking, finding and defeating several witches and sometimes familiars.

"Yeah, me too," Madoka nodded.

"Good work you two," Mami praised both Madoka and Sayaka as she placed pancakes and tea that she had just prepared on the table.

"You should make a contract with me soon so that you can easily help Mami with witch hunting," Kyuubey suggested.

"Well, I still can't think of what should I wish for," Madoka said after she took a sip of her tea. "How about you, Sayaka?"

"Hmm. I haven't thought about it either," Replied Sayaka while looking at the ceiling.

"I see. If you already have something you're wishing for, just tell me," Said Kyuubey before he leaped onto the balcony.

"Are you leaving?" asked Mami.

"Yes, I had something to do tonight," replied Kyuubey. Mami nodded and waved at him as he left. The three of them continued to discuss and talked about whatever came to their mind.

...

That evening Homura stood at the front of a mansion that are located at the edge of Mitakihara city. The mansion was very old and looked like it was abandoned. But Homura could not deny the fact that there are a person living there; the person that she wanted to kill. She stared at the name sign at the gate for a minute.

"Mikuni household," Homura muttered as she walked pass the mansion's garden. "She's still alive. I'm sure of it. She hid herself."

Homura silently went inside the mansion, searching thoroughly for the person. She checked every room that she came across and opened every door she saw, but sadly she found no one. Homura gritted her teeth in frustration as her effort of finding the person failed twice.

"Where did she escaped to!? No matter! I'll get her sooner or later!" Homura continued to mutter in anger. She left the mansion back to Mitakihara after her second attempt to find the person failed. However she did not realized that a group of people were watching her left the mansion in one of the room. It was Remilia and Sakuya, along with Patchouli, Marisa, Alice and Reimu who just had arrived at the city the night before.

"Man, she's really persistent," Marisa muttered.

"Just like you being persistent in stealing my books," Patchouli added.

"I'm not stealing! I'm just borrowing!"

"Yeah, you're just borrowing alright," Alice looked away from Marisa who was glaring at her.

"That's why I don't really like to be involved in solving incident. It's really troublesome," Reimu sighed as she spoke.

"My, my, Reimu. If you don't solve the incident, then the incident in Gensokyo will cannot be solved," Remilia said with a smile.

"But I don't remember agreeing to go outside Gensokyo. Yukari insisted me to tag along and then dragged me out."

"The more the merrier," Marisa pointed out with a grin. Reimu and Alice looked at her with a sigh. "Good thing we put on the barrier so that she can't see us."

"Barrier is a must to keep us from being discovered," said Patchouli.

"Akemi Homura sure is an interesting girl to observe," said Remilia, putting her hand under her chin. "It's a pity she's someone who hoard important informations."

"Umm, is it okay for me to change back now?" A voice asked Reimu and the others. They looked at the source of the voice. It was a girl in a white long dress magical outfit. Her silver hair matched perfectly with her clothes, covered by a hat. Her blue soul gem on the collar of her dress shone beautifully. Her green eyes looked at Reimu and the others. She was Mikuni Oriko, the person who Homura wanted to kill. She had just become a magical girl when Reimu, Marisa and Patchouli arrived to Kizamino city and met her the night before. All the informations about magical girls, witches and Kyuubey are obtained through Oriko because her ability to see the future had revealed to her some of the mystery of it. That was the reason Reimu and the others put a trust at her than other magical girls.

"I suppose you can change back now," Patchouli replied. Oriko reverts back into her normal clothes and walked towards them.

"Are you really that important that she needs to kill you?" Marisa asked. They had already known that the reason Homura came there the night before was to kill Oriko, since she held a handgun while sneaking into the mansion.

"I don't know. I think maybe it has something to do with my ability to foresee the future," Oriko replied.

"I see," Marisa scratched her head. "But thanks to Remilia, we know her ability beforehand. I can't believe she can manipulate time just like Sakuya."

"Yes, but her weapon was mainly for mid to long range combat," Sakuya explained.

"I see."

"Sakuya, prepare us some tea," Remilia said. Sakuya only smiled and nodded.

"Wait, miss Remilia. You all are my guest. You don't have to..." Oriko did not manage to finish her sentence as she could see some teacups and a teapot were already being set up on a table. She felt unconfortable to see that Sakuya was doing all the chores for her; cleaning the mansion and preparing food for them. "I'm sorry for troubling you, miss Sakuya."

"It's alright. After all, milady wants me to do it instead of you," Sakuya replied with a smile. All of them sat around the table, enjoying the tea.

"What'll we do now?" Marisa asked.

"I think we'll have to help Oriko collecting some grief seed for her for now," Alice replied.

"Is it possible to call the witches to us, Pache?" Remilia asked.

"I think it's possible. But not until we find a way for it to happen," Patchouli said as she continued sipping her tea.

"I'm sorry that you all had to help me collecting grief seeds," said Oriko.

"You don't need to apologize. After all, your life is too precious to become a witch," Alice said with a small could only smile at her. It made Oriko felt sad because she had realized that her own selfish wish had cost her life and freedom.

"Now then, I think I'll accompany Oriko for tonight's witch hunt," said Reimu as she got up from her chair.

"I'm joining too," said Marisa.

"T-thank you miss Reimu and miss Marisa," Oriko said with a bow.

"Its fine really. After all, I'm a little bored staying inside. I might as well take a walk outside," Reimu smiled.

"Ugh, why do those monsters is called witches? Those thing don't even resemble anything like a witch," said Marisa, crossing her hand. Reimu ignored Marisa's frown as she and Oriko slowly walked towards the door.

"Hey Reimu, are you going out with your miko clothes?" Marisa asked. Reimu raised her eyebrow as she looked at Marisa.

"Well, not that anyone will pay attention to my clothes during this time," Reimu replied. "We'll just have to avoid people from seeing us. Besides, I can quickly take out my talisman and gohei if I need it."

"I think it's a good idea to wear normal clothes, miss Reimu. Or at least you can wear a jacket," Oriko suggested.

"Okay," Reimu sighed as she followed Oriko to another room to get a jacket. Soon the three of them were outside Oriko's mansion. They walked past small houses and tall buildings. Clear night sky made the search a little bit easier. Street lights brightened the path that Reimu, Marisa and Oriko passed. Although it was already night time, but the city was still full of people walking around. Reimu felt relieved that she took Oriko's advice of wearing a jacket since they could not avoid from passing around a lot of people. Otherwise she would be a centre of attention.

"It seems there's no witch tonight," Oriko spoke in a disappointed tone. They had walked for half an hour but they could not find a single witch.

"Hmm. Strange," Reimu muttered. "Last night we encountered some witches."

"Maybe they're taking a holiday or something," Marisa joked. Reimu sighed while looking at Marisa.

"Should we go back to the mansion?" Oriko asked.

"But what about your soul gem? You need grief seeds to cleanse it right?" Reimu asked back. Although she did not really want to be involved in solving the incident and world outside Gensokyo, but that does not mean that she should leave someone like Oriko to live a miserable life due to someone or something's fault. In her mind, Oriko and other magical girls are not the one to be blamed because they did not know the consequences of making contract with Kyuubey.

"Yes, but it's okay. I still have few grief seeds to do the job," Oriko replied with a smile. Reimu just nodded at her. But not long after both of them started walking, Oriko's soul gem shone brightly. "M-miss Reimu! Miss Marisa!"

"Whoa! Perfect timing," said Marisa excitedly. "Let's go defeat that witch."

"I think I should defeat it alone, miss Marisa," said Oriko.

"Huh? Don't you want any help?" Marisa asked in a disappointed tone. Oriko only shook her head.

"I think it's a good idea for both of us to help you until you've adapted to battling against witches," Reimu suggested.

"Okay. I'm sorry for troubling you two," Oriko said, bowing her head slightly.

"It's okay. We're dealing with the same enemy," Marisa said cheerfully. The three of them went straight towards the location where the witch had appeared. Soon they arrived at an abandoned building. Oriko raised her hand and touched something in the air to open the invisible barrier in front of them. They engaged on dozens of familiars that are guarding the witch the moment they went inside the barrier. It did not took long for them to defeat the familiars since Reimu and Marisa's magic are more effective in wide ranged attack than Oriko.

"This is it," Oriko said as they arrived at the front of a door which will lead them to the witch. They entered the room and saw the witch standing tall, looking at them. Its body was full of spikes and blades, making its enemy difficult to engage in close combat.

"We'll try to draw its attention while you focus on attacking it," Reimu told Oriko.

"Okay," Oriko nodded. Reimu then took out her gohei and talisman and started attacking the witch. While Marisa tried her best to focus on shooting countless projectiles a few time. Being able to fly was an advantage for both of them to dodge the witch's attack. As the witch busy focusing its attention towards Reimu and Marisa, Oriko prepared dozens of spheres for her to attack. Since almost all of the spikes and blades on witch's body had already been destroyed, it makes Oriko's attack to inflict direct damage on the witch. The witch screamed as it weakened by the attack from the three of them. Finally the witch admitted its defeat as it slowly fall to the floor. The witch's barrier slowly crumbled as the witch's body disappeared, leaving a grief seed.

"Good work Oriko, especially since you've just became a magical girl yesterday," Reimu praised her.

"Thank you, miss Reimu," said Oriko. "But I couldn't have done it without you two."

"You're welcome," Reimu replied with a smile.

"Man, how I wish I had my broom and my hat," Marisa said.

"If you brought your broom with you, we wouldn't be able to walk around without people looking at you," Reimu said as she gave Marisa a smile.

"I know. Sheesh,"

"Shall we go back?" Oriko asked.

"Yeah, I'm getting hungry," Marisa replied, putting her hands on her stomach. Reimu only nodded. But not long after they took few steps, they heard a voice calling them.

"Hey you three," Reimu and the others looked behind them and saw a girl. Her red clothes matched her red hair perfectly. Her soul gem shone beautifully under her neck and she was holding a spear at her right hand. She looked at them with a grin. "It seems you three are new magical girls around here. I've already told Kyuubey not to recruit new girls here. But it seems he still did that. But it doesn't matter to me. What matter is I want you to give me the grief seed that you three just obtained."

"We're not magi... Mffm!" Marisa tried to speak but her mouth was covered by Reimu's hand.

"Quiet, Marisa. Don't let anyone know that we're not magical girls except Oriko," Reimu whispered. Marisa glared at her as Reimu let go of her hand. Then she looked at the girl and asked, "Hello there, may we know your name?"

"I don't usually give random people my name. But since you've asked, I'll tell you. My name is Kyoko Sakura," the girl replied.

"Miss Sakura, we all don't want to engage in meaningless battle. So can you please excuse us?" Reimu politely asked.

"Sure you can, after you give me the grief seed that is," Sakura demanded.

"Why do you want our grief seed for?" Oriko asked. "You can obtain it yourself, right?"

"Yes, I can obtain it myself. But I want you to give me the grief seed because this is my territory. So basically the grief seed you obtained is mine," Sakura said arrogantly.

"And if we don't give it to you?" Reimu asked. Without further warning, Sakura dashed towards them. She tried to thrust her spear multiple times at Reimu, but Reimu managed to dodge and block it with her gohei. Then the girl quickly turns her attention towards Marisa and Oriko. But she backed away from them because Oriko had shot some projectile towards her. She took a few steps away from them before stopping.

"Well, I must say. You all are quite skilled. But that doesn't mean I'll back away," Sakura said.

"Please wait," said Oriko. "We don't want to fight you."

"Yeah, yeah. Like I would stop because you begged," Sakura replied before she started to charge in again. But she did not managed to attack as pink orb projectiles slammed in front of her, stopping her from taking another steps foward. All of them suddenly tied with pink coloured chain. They looked up at where the projectiles being shot and saw two figures decending from the sky. The next thing they saw was two little girls that are not more than ten years old. One of them had a medium length brown hair tied into a twintail and wearing a white and blue dress. The other one had a long blonde hair, also tied into a twintail. She wore a black outfit and was covered with a black cape. Both of them were holding a staff.

"Please stop this fighting," the brown haired girl said.

"Heh, you told us to stop fighting while you just shoot something at me. That means you're trying to pick a fight with me!" Sakura shouted. "And you even tied me with this weird coloured chain."

"We had to use bind to restrict your movement because you all are using unknown magic and you're fighting outside the barrier," the blonde girl said.

"Of course we're fighting outside the barrier because the witch had already been defeated," Sakura said.

"Witch? What are you talking about?" The brown haired girl asked.

"Hey, are you a newly contracted magical girl? You must be joking if you're this strong but you don't know about witches," Sakura said.

"Well, I'm not fairly new to being magical girls. But I'm really new to the term 'witches'," the girl responded. Sakura started to have a headache as she heard the girl's answer. In her mind, the two girls are only teasing her. Her anger started to rise as she struggled to break free from the girl's magic.

"Umm, could you two let us go?" Marisa spoke. The two girls looked at Marisa, Reimu and Oriko.

"I'm sorry. But I think we'll have to arrest and interrogate you all since you're using unknown magic system as well as being suspects of time distortion," the blonde girl said.

"Time distortion? What do you mean?" Oriko asked. But before the blonde girl could explain, Reimu and the others as well as Sakura saw something fairly new; something that looked like a large gem on the staff that the blonde girl was holding blinking and spoke.

[_Sir, an unknown magic user approaching at high speed._]

"From which direction?" The blonde girl asked. But before her staff could respond, they saw three figures appeared behind Sakura, walking past her and towards them. It was Patchouli.

"Miss Patchouli!? What are you doing out here?" Oriko startled.

"I might as well want to join in witch hunt," replied Patchouli. "But more importantly, what are you three doing?"

"Can't you see we're being tied by some magical enhanced chain here!?" Marisa shouted. Suddenly the same chain also appeared around Patchouli, binding her arms against her body. Patchouli looked at the blonde girl.

"Can you tell me what are you doing?" Patchouli asked.

"I've used a bind to restrict your movement," the girl replied. Patchouli sighed as she was getting annoyed by the hostility the two girls showed. She looked at Reimu who only shooked her head, indicating that she don't want her to do anything.

"So what now?" Patchouli asked.

"We'll bring you somewhere for further interrogation," the brown haired girl answered.

"I see," Patchouli did not like the idea of being interrogated. However she had no choice but to agree.

"Hey brat! What about me!? Release me right now!" Sakura shouted.

"I'm sorry. But you'll be coming with us too," the blonde girl replied. Sakura growled while looking at the blonde girl. She tried to break free but proved effortless.

"Yuuno, we're ready to go. You can teleport us now," the brown haired girl seemed to communicate with someone. Magic circles appeared below everyone who was present there. All Reimu and the others could see was a blinding white light before they saw the scenery changed into a small room. What they saw after they came out from the room was something spectacular. All they could see outside the window are stars and dark sky.

"Hey wait... Are we.. In space?" Marisa muttered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: It's A Strange World**

"Hey," Marisa called the blonde girl. "Are we really in space?"

"Yes, we're in a spaceship to be precise," the blonde girl replied.

"Amazing. So this is what the space looked like," Patchouli said as she looked at the window.

"Yeah, and it's been a while since we launched our space rocket too," Marisa said. She recalled her memories when Reimu, Remilia, Sakuya and her went to the moon using a space rocket created by Patchouli only to be beaten by Watatsuki no Yorihime.

"Hey, is this a dream? I must be having a dream or imagining things because we were at an abandoned building just now," Sakura muttered as her eyes also looked outside with full of amazement. Yet she was confused with the sudden change in environment.

"You'd better believe it kid," Marisa said. Sakura glared at Marisa when she heard she was called a kid.

"Miss, may we know both of your names? It's hard to call the two of you without names," Reimu asked. There was no response from the two girls.

"I'm Takamachi Nanoha," the brown haired girl finally spoke. Then she gestured her hand towards the blonde girl. "And she's Fate Testarossa. Both of us are temporary mages in Time Space Administration Bureau, or TSAB for short."

"TSAB? What's that?" Marisa asked.

"It's an interdimensional security force that monitors and solve any problems related to magic and lost logia, or magical artifacts," Fate answered.

"Like a police or army force right?" Oriko asked.

"Correct."

"Nanoha... Fate," a voice called the two girls. Nanoha and Fate turned around. Reimu and the others also looked at the direction where the voice came from and saw five people walking towards them. One of them was a girl on a wheelchair, being pushed by a lady with short blonde hair. Then to the left was a girl with long red hair tied into a twin braids. She seemed to be the same age as the girl on the wheelchair. The lady beside the girl had a pink hair tied into a ponytail. The fifth person was a man with muscular figure, white hair, a pair of animal ears and a tail. Reimu only observed them without saying anything.

"Ah, Hayate. How's your mission?" Nanoha asked the girl on the wheelchair.

"We're doing fine and managed to keep the problem under control," Hayate replied. Then she looked at Reimu and the others. "Umm, why are they being under bind spell?"

"They're the suspects of the time distortion problems that occured," Fate replied.

"Really!?" Hayate seemed surprised. "But they looked like a nice person."

"That's because we're not the bad guys that caused whatever you called as time distortion problem," Sakura argued.

"That's what bad people always said before they show their true colour," the girl with twin braids said.

"What do you say, brat!?" Sakura raised her voice.

"Vita, it's not nice to say something like that to someone we've just met," Hayate said with a smile. She pinched the girl's nose for a few second. The girl, Vita, then bowed towards Reimu and the others, indicating she was apologizing. Hayate turned to look at them, "I'm sorry for my family's sudden behavior. I'm Yagami Hayate. This is Vita, Shamal, Signum and Zafira."

"Nice to meet you, miss Hayate. My name is Hakurei Reimu," Reimu said with a smile. Then she looked and gestured at Marisa, Patchouli, Oriko and Sakura with her head and eyes. "This is Kirisame Marisa, Patchouli Knowledge, Mikuni Oriko and Kyoko Sakura."

"Miss Fate, would you mind to do some explanation because all of us didn't know anything about time distortion that you've kept mentioned?" asked Patchouli. Fate and Nanoha led them into a room instead of responding to Patchouli's question.

"Shall we go inside too?" Shamal asked.

"I guess so," Hayate replied. Hayate and her companion followed them from behind. They seemed eager to know the detail of the situation. Inside, there was a lady with long green hair tied into a ponytail, sitting on a chair behind a large office table and boy with dark blue hair stood beside her. Both of them wore a uniform similar to what someone would see in the army. They looked at Reimu and the others as they entered the room.

"So are these the suspects?" The boy spoke.

"Yes, and they were fighting each other when we found them," Fate answered.

"I see."

"I'm Lindy Harlaown, the captain in charge for this spaceship, Arthra. And this is Chrono Harlaown," the lady with green hair introduced themselves. Reimu once again introduced herself and the others with a humble and polite manner despite the awkward situation.

"Umm, admiral Lindy. Shouldn't you be at the bridge?" Nanoha asked.

"Well, I'm planning on seeing the people that you've brought over," Lindy replied.

"Hey, can you release us from this thing that you called 'bind' already?" Sakura asked in a distressful tone. "It's getting uncomfortable."

"I'm sorry, miss Sakura. But I'm afraid we won't release you and your friends just yet. According to the report made by Nanoha and Fate just now, you're all are using unknown magic system, fighting outside barrier and you all are a suspect for time distortion problems that occurred," Chrono replied.

"So that means we're dangerous?" Oriko asked.

"Yes."

"That's merely an accusation," Sakura yelled.

"So you judge us based on weak proof," Patchouli said.

"What do you mean?" While Chrono ignored Sakura, Patchouli's word caught his attention.

"You accused that we're involved in some problem that you refer to as time distortion just because we're using magic that are unknown to you and saw us fighting outside something you referred to as a barrier. Then all of us that you've captured should also regard you and your friends as dangerous and could be involved in the problem because you're also using a magic that are unknown to us," Patchouli elaborated her explanation. Chrono was speechless as he looked at Patchouli. He clenched his hands as he could not counter-argue to what Patchouli had said. Lindy only listened to arguments made by Patchouli. Nanoha and the others only kept quiet. There was silence in the room for a few second.

"Well, just like Patchouli had just said," Marisa spoke. "It's unreasonable to accuse us for something that we didn't do without strong proof."

"The culprit may be anyone beside us since there are more magical girls out there," Oriko said.

"You mean there are more magical girls!?" Nanoha asked. She seemed either surprised or excited upon hearing Oriko said like that. Maybe she had not seen any other magical girls other than her friends and her.

"Yes," Oriko replied.

"I hope that you can release us so that we can have further discussion," said Reimu politely.

"Nanoha and Fate, are they really someone who's behind the problem?" Lindy asked after she gazed at Reimu and the others, observing every one of them.

"Um... Well..." Nanoha was in loss for words. Fate did not respond.

"Could you release them then?" Lindy asked with a smile.

"B-but admiral, we don't know what they're capable of. It's safer this way so that they can't use magic without summoning their tools or attack us without breaking the bind first," Chrono argued.

"I can use my magic anytime now I want even if I don't have to break the bind," Patchouli said in a calm tone. Chrono looked at her with a disbelief look.

"Patchouli, Don't use any magic!" Reimu shook her head.

"Does it matter now?" Patchouli asked. "They've already regard us as magic users. So it's no use hiding it anymore."

"Patchouli's right. I'm also getting tired of pretending to be either magical girls or normal people," Marisa said.

"She's just bluffing so that we'll be scared. I doubt you can use magic without any tools," Vita mocked, shrugging her hands. All of the sudden, the atmosphere in the room changed. All the people in the room could felt someone released an uncomfortable aura. Nanoha looked at Patchouli who looked like muttering something. The chain that binds Patchouli and the others slowly cracked and shattered.

"What the-!?" Fate gasped.

"The bind! It broke!" Shamal surprised.

"Impossible! How could you all break the spell!? No one could break free from bind without using magic or tools. I don't even see you use brute force to break free," Zafira widened his eyes.

"I am the one who broke the bind and I'm using magic right before your eyes," Patchouli said. "It seems that your bind is a basic form of restriction magic. I've only tried few spells to dispel the bind and it worked."

"I don't see any magic circle activated," Chrono said.

"Magic circle is not a necessary feature when using magic," said Patchouli, looking at Chrono.

"You need to behave yourself. I can't guarantee you and your friend's safety if you try using any magic," Signum suddenly appeared in front of Patchouli, pointing a sword towards her. Her clothes changed into something similar to a knight. Nanoha and Fate took a fighting stance. Shamal, Zafira and Vita also did the same while trying to protect Hayate from possible harm. Chrono stood cautiously beside Lindy, preparing for any sudden assault. Reimu looked at the distressful and tension atmosphere before she finally sighed.

"We're sorry for using magic without your consent," Reimu said. "Can we please continue our discussion without this awkward situation?"

"I suppose we can," Lindy said. She took a few deep breaths after she witnessed the tension that she did not expect to occur. "Everyone, please dismiss your weapon."

"But admiral, they tried to start possible assault," Signum opposed. She still drew her sword towards Patchouli without moving it even an inch.

"I wouldn't use my magic if we weren't treated with such hostility. Besides, I only dispel the bind that you casted on us. Nothing more, nothing less," Patchouli said.

"Miss Patchouli's right," Hayate suddenly spoke. Everyone looked at her before she continued, "If they were the bad guys, they've probably already used their magic towards us anytime now after I saw what they're capable of just now. But they only dispel the bind magic that Nanoha and Fate casted on them."

"Finally, someone who's willing to understand us," Sakura sighed. She and Oriko only kept silent ever since the argument and tension in the room started to rise. Both of them were speechless as they were trying to comprehend about what had happened in front of their eyes.

"We apologize for the misunderstood that me and my crew had made," Lindy said.

"No offence taken," Marisa said cheerfully, putting both her hands behind her head. Once again they all became silent for a while. Nanoha and the others changed from their magical girl outfit back to their normal clothes. Sakura and Oriko also did the same. Then all of them except Oriko looked at Reimu, Marisa and Patchouli who they assumed still in their magical girl outfit.

"Miss Reimu, Marisa and Patchouli," Nanoha suddenly spoke. "Aren't you going to change back to your normal clothes?"

"Well, this is our normal clothes," Marisa replied with a smile. Nanoha looked closely at their clothes for the first time. Patchouli wore a mob cap and a purple dress that looked something similar to a pajama. While Marisa wore black and white dress and an apron. One would assume her working as a maid or someone who cosplayed as a maid. Since Reimu had took off and lost her jacket during her fight with the witch earlier, Nanoha could see that she was wearing red skirt, red sleeveless top with a white collar, a pair of detached sleeves and a large red ribbon tied to the back of her head.

"I think that the tension built in here had subsided, I suppose we can start with some explanation right?" Lindy said. She curved a friendly smile so that no one inside the room would feel awkward.

"I guess so," Chrono replied. Then he turned towards Reimu and the others. "Then we'll start by answering your questions."

"Could you guys first explain something about time distortion that you all kept mentioned?" asked Marisa.

"Lately there's a little bit of disturbance in time, which we would like to call it a time distortion or time disorder. At first we didn't realize about it. But as we travel through space and dimensions, Nanoha, Fate and Hayate realized that there's something wrong when they got back home after a mission. Everyone around them was doing the same thing twice. Even Shamal said that Hayate's health test showed the same result," Chrono started to explain.

"You mean like deja-vu?" Patchouli asked. "Like you felt that you or someone had done something before."

"Yes, something like that. So they told us about it. At first, we thought they were only feeling tired after doing some mission. But after roughly a month and a half, they told us the same thing happened again. We started to feel curious about it and started conducting an investigation for about four months. We've sent several mages to Earth. To our surprise, they've made a same report over and over again during those four months," Chrono continued to explain without a pause.

Patchouli only nodded as she listened. Reimu was a little bit lost as she was trying so hard to absorb every detail that Chrono had just said. Marisa scratched the back of her head as she did not have a single idea of what she just had heard. Oriko and Sakura also seemed clueless since the information was beyond their capability to understand. None of them said a single word. Marisa looked at Nanoha and the others. They seemed to understand the explanation well.

_Ugh, they're just kids but they seem to understand what that Chrono kid was saying_, Marisa thought.

"So basically a certain time was repeated to some extent before it rewinds back again?" Patchouli asked.

"Yes."

"But how are you able to avoid from being affected by this time distortion? How did you know the culprit was in Japan?" Oriko asked.

"We're not really sure about it. It seems the other dimensions aren't affected by the distortion, although it's yet to be proved. Nanoha and the others also weren't being affected by it since they were with us from time to time. We also called them aboard every time before that problem occurred to make sure they aren't affected by it," Lindy replied. "We were able to confirm the source of the problem was from Japan because there's a strong surge of mana flowed detected when the time disturbance occurred which was channeled from it. Though we couldn't find the exact location."

"The other problem was that we're having a hard time finding the culprit," Chrono continued after admiral Lindy finished her sentence.

"Why is that?" Marisa asked.

"That's because we weren't be able to locate them if they didn't use their magic. Even if we did, we'll only ended up capturing the wrong person," Chrono replied.

"Like what you all just did," Sakura interrupted.

"Yes, just like miss Sakura said. Since you mentioned that there are more magical girls or magic users, it'll lower the probability to find the culprit. It may probably take two or three cycles of this one month before we can manage to identify and capture them... Probably more than that," Chrono continued.

"When will the time be reversed back again?" Patchouli asked.

"About three weeks from now," Chrono answered.

"I see," Patchouli said as she put her hand under her chin.

"Ugh, I'm starting to have a headache to understand all this," Marisa muttered.

"Shh, be quiet Marisa," Reimu whispered.

"What about unknown magic system? What do you mean by it?" Oriko asked.

"Ah, I'm also planning to ask you all about that," Chrono replied. "Normally, we mages used a device in the form of staff, sword, ring and many other forms. It helped us in casting magic spells and performing tasks that we couldn't manage to do it by ourselves. But Nanoha and Fate said that you used something different than ours. Would you mind explain to us about your magic system that you all used?"

Oriko looked at Sakura. She could not explain anything regarding magical girls due to her lack of experience, especially since she had just becoming one the night before. Sakura noticed that Oriko was looking at her with a worried expression. She sighed as she figured out and assumed that Oriko wanted her to explain everything that she could.

"We obtained magical powers after we made a wish with a creature named Kyuubey. In return, we fought against something that we called a witch," Sakura explained. She extended her left arm and showed a ring that she wore. The ring changed into a red gem that looked like an egg, framed with metallic casing.

"Wow, it's beautiful," Hayate said.

"This is called a soul gem. This is the source of magical power for us magical girls and we were able to transform to our magical clothes and materialize our weapon with this, like you all saw earlier. Over time, our soul gem will darken and become dull. So we need a grief seed which we obtained from the witch to purify our soul gem," Sakura continued to explain.

"What about the witch? What are they?" Nanoha asked.

"A witch is a creature that spread despair. They are born from negative desires such as curses. We couldn't see them since they tend to hide inside a barrier that they've create, unless we enter the barrier," Sakura then shuffled the pocket on her jacket and took out a grief seed. "I can't really explain how the witches looked like since each of them had different appearance. But when we defeated the witch, the barrier will disappear and it will leave this thing which we called a grief seed."

"Thank you for explaining. I couldn't even explain that long," Oriko whispered with a smile as soon as Sakura finished explaining. Sakura looked away, avoiding eye contact with Oriko.

"What about miss Patchouli, Reimu and Marisa?" Fate asked.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Reimu asked.

"Well... I don't see you use something like a soul gem that miss Sakura showed earlier," Fate continued. "Not to mention you said that you don't need to change your clothes, which is unusual."

"Now that she mentioned it. Are you really magical girls?" Sakura curiously looked at Reimu, Marisa and Patchouli.

"What should we do, Reimu?" Marisa whispered. Reimu looked around before she sighed. It was uncertain whether she should explain everything or not. But in her mind, their secret will be found out sooner or later no matter how hard they tried to hide it.

"Before I explain anything, I need everyone that are present here to keep this matter a secret no matter what... until the time is right that is," Reimu said in a serious tone. No one opened their mouth to say 'yes' or 'no'.

"Alright, everything that you'll be telling us here will be kept confidental," Lindy finally spoke. She was not afraid of Reimu. However Lindy respects the request that she had just made. "Everyone inside this room, I hope you all will keep everything that miss Reimu will be telling us a secret."

"Roger," Nanoha and the others responded. Reimu slowly took out a card.

"A card? What's it for?" Shamal asked. Instead of answering the question, the card flashed with white light. As the light slowly disappeared, Nanoha and the others saw two large spheres formed and hovered around Reimu.

"Isn't that..." Nanoha wanted to ask. But she was interrupted by Reimu's answer.

"If you think that this is a yin-yang orb, then you're correct. The card that I held just now is called a spell card, which the three of us used in a duel," Reimu explained.

"Beautiful," Hayate said. Her eyes were wide with amazement as she kept seeing something interesting one after another. "A yin-yang orb, huh? It made me think that you're a shrine maiden,"

"She's a shrine maiden all right," Marisa said with a smile.

"Really!? Wow! This is the first time I saw a real shrine maiden with magical powers," Hayate started to feel excited.

"So you three are shrine maidens?" Nanoha asked.

"Nope, I'm an ordinary magician. While Patchouli is a hundred years old witch," the word 'hundred years old' accidentally slipped out from Marisa's mouth in a carefree attitude when she replied to Nanoha's question. She then realized that she was not in Gensokyo. She quickly closed her mouth with her hand.

"The term witch is inappropriate here," Patchouli glared at Marisa in a displeasing look. "People will misunderstand about it. And why do you have to tell almost everyone about my age? It's rude."

"H-hundred years old!?" Nanoha was surprised as she looked at Patchouli. "But you look young and beautiful."

Honest and sincere words that came from Nanoha made Patchouli blushed. She quickly let out a few small cough. Marisa grinned as she looked at her. Reimu only curved a small smile. While it was normal to hear someone lived for hundred years, it seemed that was the first time Signum, Vita, Zafira and Shamal saw someone that was a hundred years old but still looked that young.

"You kids sure do like to surprise a lot," Marisa said with a small laugh. Nanoha scratched her head and bowed, apologizing for her silly attitude.

"Wait! Does that mean the three of you are not human?" Chrono asked.

"To correct Marisa's statement, I'm also a magician just like her. Whether I'm a human or not, it's up to your imagination," Patchouli answered.

"Me and Reimu are just a normal sixteen years old human," Marisa said cheerfully.

"Back to my explanation," Reimu let out a small cough. "The magic that the three of us used are quite different from the magic that you used. While you used something like a soul gem and a staff to cast magic, we used a card and items that can be included to make the spell card. Though we can cast a magic by uttering some spell and use other magical items, since it's to balance everything in a duel, I've developed this spell card system."

"A duel? Does that mean you're fighting against each other?" Signum asked.

"More or less like that."

"Wait. If you're not a magical girl like me and that girl, then why did you hunt witches?" Sakura pointed her finger at herself and Oriko as she asked the question.

"We fought the witches and not hunt them," Reimu replied. "And we fought them for a reason."

"A reason?" Sakura continued to ask.

"Simply put, recently they had created problems at the place where we lived," Reimu said.

"Recently?"

"Yeah, about one week ago they appeared out of nowhere," Reimu answered.

"They really caused a lot of trouble. That's why we want to find out what made them to appear. So fighting and defeating them is one of the ways to find some clues," Patchouli said.

"Well, I guess that all from me. Are there any other questions?" Reimu looked around. No one said anything for a moment.

"I guess that's about it," Lindy spoke. Nanoha and the others slowly nodded. She got up from her seat and bowed, "Once again, I sincerely apologize for the misunderstood,"

"It's okay," Reimu replied with a smile. All of them went outside the room before Lindy called Reimu and Sakura.

"Miss Reimu and miss Sakura, can we have a moment?" Lindy asked. The three of them went back inside the room. While the rest waited for them in another room where Reimu and the others first arrived at the Arthra earlier.

"Fate," a voice called as the person entered the room. It was a lady with long orange hair. She had a pair of animal ears and a fluffy tail, just like Zafira.

"Ah, Arf. Did you have a good rest?" Fate asked.

"Yes," Arf replied. She noticed Marisa, Patchouli and Oriko before she looked back at Fate. "Who are they?"

"Well... They're... Our new friends," Fate replied hastily. Arf respond with a nod and smiled. Then she turned towards Marisa and the others and bowed.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Arf, Fate's familiar. Thank you for being nice towards Fate and become friends with her," Arf introduced herself.

"I'm Mikuni Oriko," Oriko introduced herself with a smile. She did not let the hostility that the five of them received earlier from becoming friendly towards Nanoha and the others. Then she gestured her hand at Patchouli and Marisa. "This is Patchouli Knowledge and Kirisame Marisa."

"And them?" Arf asked, looking at Reimu and Sakura who were just entering the room.

"That's Hakurei Reimu and Kyoko Sakura," Marisa said. Arf then introduced herself at Reimu and Sakura.

"Well, let's head back," said Reimu. All of the sudden, Nanoha tugged her sleeve. Reimu looked at her and asked, "Yes, what is it?"

"Umm... Miss Reimu. Both Fate and I are sorry for capturing and mistaken the five of you as the suspects," Nanoha said.

"It's all right. We humans are always make mistakes. But that's what makes us be able to move forward and become strong, by building up courage to admit our mistakes and try to set things back to how it was," Reimu replied as she patted Nanoha's head. Nanoha's face brightened a bit after she heard Reimu's speech. She felt like all the burden that she carried because of the mistake she did earlier had been lifted off.

...

"I'm glad we've made it back," said Marisa as they arrived back at the abandoned building. Oriko noticed that Sakura silently walked away from them without saying a single word.

"Wait, where are you going?" Oriko asked.

"I'm out of here. I don't like crowds," Sakura replied without looking at Oriko. Oriko suddenly grabbed Sakura's hand, making her startled. Before Sakura managed to say anything, she felt Oriko put something on her hand. She looked at her hand and saw three grief seeds. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"We apologize for causing you a lot of trouble. It's my token of apology," Oriko replied.

"Hey, hold on Oriko. That's your hard earned grief seeds. You shouldn't give it to her just like that," Marisa said.

"It's alright, miss Marisa," Oriko said with a smile. Then she turned to look at Sakura. "I hope we won't become enemies or rivals the next time we meet."

Sakura blushed when she saw Oriko's sincere smile. It reminded her of someone dear to her. She quickly turned around and said something before she started walking, "Man, that's why I don't like good girls like you."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Oriko asked. However Sakura only walked away instead of answering her question. Oriko watched Sakura disappeared in the alleyway before she turned towards Reimu and the others.

"Well, let's head back to the mansion," said Reimu. Patchouli and Oriko only nodded.

"Hey Reimu, what about them?" Marisa asked. They looked at a group of people behind them. Nanoha smiled nervously. Fate and Arf talked with each other. Hayate smiled as she saw Reimu staring at them. Signum, Shamal, Vita and Zafira only stood behind Hayate, looking around.

"Well, it can't be helped. Miss Lindy asked me to take them in for tonight. She said that they will be joining us because it may help them to find some clue," Reimu replied. "Is it really okay with you to let them stay overnight, Oriko?"

"Yes, I'm kind of happy miss Lindy trust us. Afterall, there's no school tomorrow. So there's no problem having them at the mansion tonight," Oriko replied with a smile.

"But how did they know that fighting witches will help them in finding clue about their time distortion problem?" Marisa asked.

"Well frankly speaking, I don't know. Miss Lindy also said it's just a hunch," Reimu replied.

"Ugh, I'm having a headache seeing too many people right now," said Marisa, scratching her head.

"Well just like you said, the more the merrier," Reimu said with a smirk. Marisa only glared at Reimu without saying anything other than sighing.

"Thank you for having us tonight. We hope that we won't be a burden to you," said Hayate, bowing slightly towards Oriko.

"You're welcome," replied Oriko. "In fact, I'm happy that you all want to stay over."

It did not took them long to arrive in front of Oriko's mansion. As they passed through the gate, Nanoha's pendant suddenly blinked.

[_Master, there's a high amount of magical energy detected_]

Nanoha and her friends cautiously looked around as they could felt an overwhelming magical energy. The energy also seemed to be coming from the mansion. At the same time they were confused when they saw that Reimu and the others did not bother to be on guard.

"What are you guys doing? We're going to leave you outside if you don't want to come inside," Reimu said.

"Can't the four of you feel high amount of magical energy surrounding us?" Signum asked.

"Ah, that must be the barrier that we had set up," Patchouli answered.

"Barrier? But we don't see any barrier," Zafira said, crossing his arms as he continued to observe his surroundings.

"Yeah, usually we can see a barrier," Arf said.

"The barrier couldn't be seen with naked eyes nor we can feel it outside the mansion unless we pass through the gate," Patchouli continued. "Only the one who casted it can see the barrier clearly."

"I see. That explains everything," Fate said with a nod.

"Are there also a barrier inside the mansion?" Shamal asked. "We could feel clearly that there's also high concentration of magical energy from the inside."

"Oh, that's just our friends," Marisa grinned.

"Friends?" Hayate asked.

"Let's go inside and you'll see what I mean," Marisa replied. As they went inside, Nanoha and the others were full of astonishment. While it was normal for them to see magic, but what Nanoha, Fate and Hayate saw right at that moment was something that amazed them.

"Amazing," Those are the only word that came out from Nanoha's mouth.

* * *

**At Arthra:**

"Captain, are we sure we're going to let Nanoha and the others join them?" Arthra's officer cadet, Amy, asked. "We don't know whether they're an ally or an enemy."

"I'm sure they'll be just fine. I believe that they're not the enemy," Lindy replied.

"But will they be able to find some clues this time?"

"I hope so," Lindy said as she sipped her tea. Then she looked at the screen that shows images of Reimu, Patchouli, Marisa, Oriko and Sakura. Then she muttered, "It's a strange world we're in right now."

_To be continued..._

* * *

**Afterword:**

Hmm... I've tried to balance Touhou's cast with Nanoha's cast. But since I'm trying to make the characters alive, it seemed a little bit impossible to weaken Touhou character's power (Although I'm powering them down for now ^^;). So, there you have it. A strange new world for all of them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Witch**

Nanoha and the other looked around as they walked inside the mansion. They were not interested in anything in particular. Their eyes only trailed something that had been hovering all over the mansion. The moment they went inside earlier, it stopped for a second and looked at them before it resumed doing housework.

"Is there something wrong?" Oriko asked.

"Oh nothing. It's just that there are a lot of dolls floating around," Nanoha replied.

"And they're doing chores. That's amazing," Fate said.

"Not to mention they're cute," Hayate said with excitement, clasping her hands.

"Thank you for praising my dolls," a voice spoke to them. Nanoha and the others looked at the direction where the voice came from and saw a girl with short blonde hair. Her skin was quite pale, which made Nanoha felt she was looking at a large living doll. She wore a blue and white Victorian or European styled dress, a pink hair band and belt. They also saw she carried a large and thick book, tied with pink ribbon. There were two dolls hovering beside her.

"Ah, Alice. We're home," Marisa greeted, looking at the person. "We're hungry. Is the food ready?"

"Where have you all been?" Alice asked. "I've been waiting for you all."

"We're sorry miss Alice. All of us were in space earlier," Oriko replied with a bow, apologizing towards Alice. She did not know what else to tell Alice.

"Space?" Alice raised her eyebrow.

"Well, a lot of things happened," Reimu said. They talked to Alice about what they had just experienced earlier from the beginning until the end. Nanoha and her friends only looked at the five of them talking to each other.

"Shamal, is it just me or she looked almost like you?" Vita asked as she stared at Alice. They would mistaken Alice for Shamal since they had almost the same appearance except she looked little bit younger, shorter and had a different eye colour than her.

"You're right, she does look like me," Shamal was a little bit excited to see someone who looked the same as her.

"Let me guess. They're magical girls... And boy that you meant?" Alice asked as she observed Nanoha and the others.

"Yeah, but they refered themselves as mages rather than magical girls and boy. They're not the same as Oriko, just like us being different from her," Marisa answered.

"I see."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Takamachi Nanoha. We'll be staying here tonight. I hope we won't be a burden," Nanoha spoke. The others also introduced themselves. All of them bowed slightly towards Alice. Alice also bowed in response.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alice Margatroid," Alice introduced herself. Fate's stomach growled all of the sudden, making her quickly looked down with embarrassment. Alice only smiled while looking at Fate. "I guess you all are hungry. Let's go and have a dinner."

...

The dining room was beautifully decorated with antiques. Scent from roses that are placed at the middle of the dining table filled the air. Cold night wind blew through the windows cools the room. Nanoha and the others sat around the dining table. Several dolls hovered around them, carrying bowls, plates, chopsticks, glasses, foods and drinks and put all of it on the table.

"Miss Alice, does your dolls move on it's own?" Signum asked. She gazed at the dolls that looked like interacting among themselves.

"To be precise, I'm the one who manipulated and move the dolls with my magic," Alice replied.

"But your doll seemed to be talking to one another."

"Personal amusement," Alice answered shortly. Signum made a confused look before Alice continued, "What I mean is I like to make my doll seemed alive although I'm the one who manipulated them."

"Ah," Signum nodded as she now understood what Alice meant.

"Well let's eat," Marisa said happily as Alice's dolls finished putting the dishes on the table. They did not talk much as they enjoyed their dinner. As soon as they finished eating, Alice's doll that was hovering around came and collects all the dishes.

"By the way miss Oriko, where are your parents? I haven't seen them around," Hayate asked when she noticed something while she looked the people around her. Oriko's expression changed for a second before she managed to change it back. Then she quickly curved a small smile at Hayate. But sudden change in Oriko's expression was noticed by Shamal.

"Hayate..." Shamal quickly tugged Hayate's shirt. Hayate looked at her. Shamal only shook her head and Hayate immediately understood what she meant.

"I'm sorry for asking such uncomfortable question," Hayate said, lowering her head. She realized that her question had brought unpleasant feeling towards Oriko.

"It's alright. I know someone will ask about it sooner or later," Oriko replied. She took a deep breath before she continued. "My parents are already dead. My father hanged himself in this very mansion because he was found guilty for being a corrupted politician. Then my mother also did the same when she could not bear the truth and humility that we've received. When I was in a state of depression and lost the will to live, that's when Kyuubey appeared and offer me to make a wish. In return, I have to become a magical girl to fight the witches. But everything comes with a cost."

"What cost?" Hayate lifted up her head a little bit. Oriko only looked at her without answering the question. Hayate looked down again without raising her head to look at anyone. She felt that she had disrespect Oriko and hurt her feelings. Nanoha, Fate and Arf exchanged eye contacts. Signum, Shamal, Vita and Zafira only kept quiet. The foods that they enjoyed earlier suddenly became tasteless in their tongue. While Reimu and the others only glanced at Oriko then at Nanoha and the others.

"I'm sorry," Hayate repeated her apology. All of the sudden she felt a warm embrace from behind. Hayate looked back and saw it was Oriko who was hugging her with a smile.

"It's okay. I'm not offended. It's not your fault," Oriko said.

"But my question must've bring back your painful memories of them," Hayate said.

"It's alright. After all, now I've got you all that'll cheer me up," Oriko replied with a smile, patting Hayate's head. Hayate seemed cheered up a little bit after hearing Oriko said that. Fate and the others including Reimu, Marisa, Patchouli and Alice only smiled at them.

"So... What should we do now?" Marisa finally spoke, trying to get rid of somber and gloomy atmosphere. "Are we going to hunt witches after this?"

"I think it's better for us to get some rest. It's getting late," Reimu replied while glancing at the clock on the wall. It was already 9 PM.

"I agree," Patchouli said.

"Even Oriko and the rest seemed to feel tired," Alice said.

"But didn't Oriko need to collect more grief seeds?" Marisa asked.

"No need to worry about me miss Marisa," Oriko answered. "I still had two more grief seeds. We can go for some witch hunt tomorrow. After all, Nanoha and the rest might want to see witches."

"Ah, okay," Marisa said. Then she looked at Nanoha and the others. "Is that okay with you all?"

"I think we're okay with all your decision," Fate replied.

"Agree," Arf said.

"I think I'm going to prepare bedrooms for the eight of you," Oriko said as she stood up.

"Ah, I think one room is enough for us. We'll sleep together," Hayate said. She turned and looked at the others and asked, "Is it okay with you all?"

"I think that's a great idea. We don't want to trouble miss Oriko too much," Nanoha said with a smile.

"I'll be fine sleeping at the living room," Zafira said.

"I see. It's decided then," Oriko said.

"My dolls will help you, Oriko," Alice said. Oriko smiled and nodded. All of them left the dining room and went towards the living room while Oriko and several dolls went upstairs to prepare the room. As they entered the living room, they saw there were two people that they had not seen since they went inside the mansion. It was Remilia who was sitting on a large sofa, sipping her tea and watching a television. While Sakuya stood behind her. Remilia only smiled as she noticed them without saying a word. Nanoha assumed that Remilia was not a human since she saw a pair of bat wings behind her back. All of them could feel high amount of magical energy radiated from Remilia as they all sat on available sofa near her.

"Oh my, some newfaces. Mind to introduce them to me?" Remilia said, looking at Reimu who just entered the room.

"They're our new friends," Reimu said. Then she introduced Nanoha and the others, who bowed slightly towards Remilia. Remilia then introduced herself and Sakuya in return.

"Anyway, while Oriko still preparing bedroom for Nanoha and the others we should discuss about how to avoid from being found by Kyuubey and Kyoko from now on," Patchouli spoke.

"Kyoko? Who's that?" Remilia asked.

"Sakura Kyoko. Another magical girl just like Oriko but she seemed a little bit experienced," Marisa replied.

"So she saw the four of you used your magic?"

"Yeah, she saw all of it, including them," Marisa said while pointing her thumb at Nanoha and the others.

"Heh, it seems your plan to hide our presence are not really working, Reimu," Remilia said with a giggle. Reimu glared at her with an annoying look.

"It can't be helped," Reimu said with a sigh. "But I didn't give every detail about us, unlike you."

"Hey, it's not that I know the plan," Remilia argued.

"That's your fault for leaving too early," Reimu argued back. Remilia only glared at her without saying anything. Both Remilia and Sakuya left Gensokyo earlier than Reimu and the rest as she was excited to go out into the outside world. It was also the fact that she hated the witches that had been terrorizing Gensokyo that she wanted to end the incident as soon as possible.

"Pardon me, but is it necessary to avoid Kyoko and this Kyuubey creature?" Shamal asked.

"We need to avoid Kyuubey as much as possible so that he doesn't know about our presence for the time being, until the time is right. While we need to avoid Kyoko since she still haven't trust us completely. So we'll give her time to think," Patchouli replied.

"Since she still doesn't know about Remilia, Sakuya and Alice yet, I think it's best to avoid her from knowing about our relationship," Reimu suggested.

"Hmm, that's a good idea," Alice said.

"Is Kyuubey a dangerous creature?" Nanoha asked.

"Well, we don't really know since we haven't met him face to face. But there's something odd about him. So we need to investigate about him more," Alice replied.

"Anyway, do you find anything regarding the witches?" Remilia asked Patchouli.

"So far it's hard understand why the witches exist. I need to research more," Patchouli replied.

"Let's finish this so that we can go back," Reimu said with a sigh. "I'm starting to get frustrated that we aren't getting anywhere."

"What're you all discussing about?" Oriko asked as she entered the living room.

"Oh, just random things," Marisa replied. "Mostly about how to avoid from Kyuubey and Kyoko."

"Why we need to avoid miss Kyoko? She look like a good girl to me," Oriko tilted her head.

"Let's just say we need to give her time to think and trust us," Patchouli repeated her answer earlier.

"I see," Oriko said in a sad tone. She was planning on teaming up with Kyoko the next time they meet. But it seems that she no choice but to agree with Patchouli and the other's decision. "Ah by the way, I've finished preparing the bedroom."

"Thank you very much for preparing the bedroom for us," Hayate said with a smile and bowed slightly towards Oriko.

"You're welcome," Oriko replied.

"Let's rest for tonight," said Reimu. She turned towards Nanoha and others. "You all will help Oriko in witch hunt tomorrow so that you'll know how to handle the witches."

"Leave it to us. We'll help miss Oriko with what we can," Arf said with a grin.

"Well, I'm off to my bed. Good night," Marisa waved her hand as she slowly left the living room.

"I guess we'll go to sleep too," Nanoha said. The others nodded and got up from their seat.

"Good night, miss Oriko, miss Reimu, miss Patchouli, miss Alice, miss Remilia and miss Sakuya," Hayate and the rest bowed before they turned around and left the room. While Zafira changed into a large blue wolf and curled his body at the corner of the living room. Remilia looked at Zafira with full of interest. That night, Nanoha could not sleep well. She sat on the bed, staring blankly on the floor. She seemed to be bothered by her thoughts.

"What's wrong? You can't sleep?" A voice asked. Nanoha turned around and saw Signum just entered the room.

"Ah, nothing. It's just that a lot of things happened tonight," Nanoha replied.

"I see. Well, don't think too much. We should get some sleep. We'll be busy tomorrow," Signum said as she lay on her bed. Soon, Nanoha could hear Signum sound asleep. Nanoha also lay back on her bed. Not long after that, she fall asleep.

...

**BOOM!**

Loud explosion made Nanoha woke up instantly. She could felt the mansion was shaking. She immediately got up from her bed and looked around. It seemed that the explosion had also made the others awake. She rushed towards the window near her and looked outside. It was already morning.

"What's that explosion!?" Vita asked.

"I don't know. But there's a lot of smoke outside in the air," Nanoha replied.

"Let's go outside and see," Fate said. Nanoha nodded. They all went outside the room and rushed downstairs. On their way to the door leading outside the mansion, they met Remilia and Sakuya who were just walking out of the dining room.

"Good morning. You all seem busy early in the morning," Remilia greeted them with a smile.

"Miss Remilia, did you heard large explosion in front of the mansion?" Hayate asked.

"Oh, that's just Marisa, Reimu and Patchouli testing out the strength of the barrier," Remilia replied as she went towards the front door. "Care to join in?"

As they went outside the mansion, they saw the three of them were at the middle of the garden. Patchouli was hovering while reading a book. Reimu was sitting on the grass, holding a gohei and some talisman. Marisa was standing while looking at the sky. Nanoha looked at her as if she was a character from folklore stories since she wore a witch hat and holding a broom on her right hand. While her left hand was holding something that looked like a block of wood. The three of them did not notice Nanoha and the other's presence.

"Man, why must I use final spark on the barrier after I used master spark?" Marisa groaned.

"It's to test whether the barrier could withstand your destructive power or not," Patchouli gave an annoying smile.

"Then why not Reimu or Remilia do it?" Marisa asked. "They're more powerful than me. At least Alice should do it."

"Reimu still trying to strengthen the barrier there. Remi is still resting and Alice is busy preparing breakfast with Oriko," Patchouli replied.

"Then again, why we're trying to test the barrier's strength? It's not that something going to destroy it anyway," Marisa said.

"It's for precautions," Reimu said. "We don't know what will happen if something attack us from outside or inside the barrier. Expect the unexpected."

"Don't blame me if the barrier gets destroyed after this," Marisa sighed as she pointed the wooden block that she held upward.

"You don't have to worry. That's why I'm trying to increase the strength of the barrier," Reimu said. Marisa let out another sigh. Nanoha and the others could see the item that Marisa held glowed. Soon they felt the pressure around the area started to get tense.

"Final spark!" Marisa shouted. Large magic circle formed in front of Marisa, releasing high concentration of rainbow coloured beam that shoot off towards the sky and hit something that was invisible to naked eyes. The sheer strength of Marisa's magic was truly strong that it created another large explosion in the air and shook the ground. "Phew, I think I'm done."

"Ah, you're all awake," Patchouli said as she noticed Nanoha and the others. "It seems Marisa's magic woke you up."

"Hey, it's not that I want to use magic early in the morning," Marisa said, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Good morning," Nanoha greeted. "Pardon me, but won't the people around notice the magic that miss Marisa just used?"

"You don't have to worry. The barrier conceals everything that are happening inside. In other words, it prevents outsiders from seeing what we're doing," Reimu said. Nanoha looked at the pedestrian that are walking near the mansion. They seemed did not noticed, saw or hear the magic that Marisa just unleashed. They also seemed did not saw all of them that were gathering at the garden.

"Amazing," Signum widened her eyes.

"It's strength was like Nanoha's starlight breaker," Vita said. "And she only used that small thing on her hand."

"Hmm, interesting," Remilia said as she overheard what Vita had just said. "Hey Reimu, can you let this Nanoha kid try her magic called starlight breaker on the barrier?"

"Eh?" Nanoha was shocked by Remilia's sudden suggestion. She panicked for a moment as she did not know what she should do. She looked at the others, but they also seemed surprised as she was.

"Sure. Can you do it, Nanoha?" Reimu asked.

"B-but it's strength is so strong," Nanoha answered hastily.

"It's okay. We're testing the barrier after all. Don't you worry about your surroundings. I've used defense barrier around us and the mansion," Patchouli replied.

Nanoha hastily took out Raising Heart and immediately changed her clothes into her magical outfit. She did not know whether she should use her starlight breaker or not. She flew into the mid-air and aimed Raising Heart towards the spot where Marisa unleashed her final spark earlier. "Raising Heart, load cartridge and change into buster mode."

[_All right. Load cartridge. Buster mode._]

Raising Heart ejected several cartridges before a magic circle formed under Nanoha. It's head changed shape, forming into a more square shape with two prongs. The pressure around Nanoha started to get tense as Raising Heart charged high amount of mana in front of it and formed a large pink coloured sphere of energy.

"Starlight breaker!" Nanoha shouted, swinging Raising Heart towards the magic circle.

[_Starlight breaker_]

The sphere in front of Raising Heart shoots upward into a large pink beam, hitting something in the air. It created a huge explosion and shook the ground, just like when Marisa used final spark. If it was not for defense barrier that Patchouli had set up, the whole area would had been vaporized. As the starlight breaker dies out, Nanoha did not see anything that she hit aside a lot of smoke formed at the place where it hit's.

"I think the barrier is strong enough now," Reimu said with a large smile on her face.

"Just how strong is the barrier!?" Zafira muttered in a very low voice. "Even starlight beaker couldn't pierce through it."

"Wow! It's like my final spark!" Marisa said. Her eyes were full of excitement. "I bet you study a lot of magic spells to be able to use powerful magic like that."

"I only poured enough mana from me into Raising Heart and it'll do the rest, I don't really need to cast a spell or learn from magic books," Nanoha said with a smile.

"Raising Heart?" Marisa asked.

"It's my staff's name. Every device that each one of us uses had a name," Nanoha replied.

"By the way miss Marisa, what's the item that you held earlier?" Fate asked.

"Ah, just my Hakkero," Marisa said with a smile. She took out the wooden block from her hat and showed it to them. Nanoha looked closely at the item. It took a shape of an octagonal block with eight trigrams printed in a circle on the top of the item.

"How convenient of you to be able to use magic without studying it," suddenly Nanoha and the others heard a voice behind them. They looked behind and saw Alice with her dolls. She looked at them with a serious face.

"Miss Alice, good morning," Shamal greeted. But Alice did not respond for a few second.

"Breakfast is ready. Let's eat before it gets cold," Alice said. Nanoha and the others saw Alice gave them a cold look.

"Is you all right, miss Alice?" Arf asked. "You seemed to be angry."

"I guess she overheard what Nanoha had just said," Reimu said.

"What do you mean?" Hayate asked.

"All of us studied magic from the basic. We read countless books and grimores day and night to improve and increase our magical abilities. That's why someone like Alice who had been doing like that was disappointed when she heard that magicians nowadays used much simpler way to gain magical abilities," Patchouli explained.

"I see," Nanoha said in a sad tone. She felt that she had make Alice sad by saying something that she should not have. Then she turned towards Alice and bowed. "I'm sorry for my attitude earlier, miss Alice. I didn't know that you, miss Reimu and the others had worked so hard to gain magical abilities."

"No need to worry. I know that I'm not supposed to be angry with new generation of magician. It's just my personal reflex. I'm also sorry about earlier," Alice replied with a soft tone. She realized that her attitude had made Nanoha and the others felt uncomfortable. She quickly changed her expression into a smile while patting Nanoha's head. Nanoha smiled a little bit after she heard what Alice had just said.

"Okay, enough with this emotional situation," Marisa said. "Let's have our breakfast. I need to replenish my energy after using master spark and final spark."

All of them nodded. They went inside the mansion and headed straight to the dining hall. Inside, Oriko had just finished placing dishes on the table with the help from several dolls. They immediately sat down and started eating their breakfast.

"Are we going to do witch hunt today?" Oriko asked.

"Yes," Reimu replied. "We also need Nanoha and the others to be familiar with the witches."

"I'll go with them since Remilia, Sakuya and Alice shouldn't show their faces around here," Marisa volunteered.

"Will you be okay, miss Marisa? You just used you magic earlier," Oriko seemed to be concerned with Marisa.

"You don't have to worry about me," Marisa replied with a grin.

"Are we all going to participate too?" Hayate asked.

"You all should participate," Reimu replied. Then she looked at Hayate who was using the wheelchair. "But are you going to participate as well? Because you look like you're not well."

"I'm fine since I can use magic as well," Hayate replied with a smile. "I don't really have problems with my health. Only my legs still need to adapt to walking since I'm still recovering."

"I see," Reimu said. Then they went silent as they continued to eat their breakfast. They could hear birds chirping outside the mansion. Sunlight that came through the window brightened up the dining room.

"Well, let's get going," Marisa said as she finished her breakfast. Oriko nodded and got up from her seat, followed by Nanoha and the others. Zafira and Arf changed into a small puppy so that they could join the witch hunt without attracting other people's attention. They left the mansion and headed directly towards the city. They walked slowly as a group, passing through a lot of people. Oriko was the one leading them while holding her soul gem on her right hand. People did not really concern with Oriko, since they had regard her as a daughter of a corrupted politician.

"Are the witches hiding in the city?" Nanoha asked.

"I don't really know much since I just started out to become magical girls. But usually they tend to hide near the city since there are a lot of people that can be their victim. Especially the one with negative feelings inside their heart," Oriko replied. "That's why I'm trying to scan nearby witches with my soul gem."

"So does your soul gem respond to nearby witches?" Vita asked.

"Something like that," Oriko said. Minutes of endless walk seemed to pay off as her soul gem shine. "There's a witch nearby."

As they continued to walk towards a small alleyway in a very fast pace, Oriko's soul gem glow with more intense. Nanoha and the others looked at each other, preparing to face new unknown enemy.

"It's here," Oriko said as she raised her soul gem. It blinked once before something appeared in front of her that resemble a magic circle but with strange marking. Oriko immediately changed from her normal clothes into magical outfit. "We're going to enter the witch's barrier now."

"I think it's better for you all to change into your magical outfit too. Things will get busy the moment we're inside," Marisa said, looking at Nanoha and the others. They nodded and immediately changed into their battle outfit. Arf and Zafira also changed into their human form.

"We're ready," Nanoha said. After all of them made sure they were prepared, they all went inside the barrier. Nanoha and the others widened their eyes as they witnessed the strange environment around them. They felt like they were in a place where everything seemed to be made up from paper.

"What the heck is this place? Everything seemed like a two dimensional drawings," Shamal said.

"Welcome to the witch's lair," Marisa said. "It does feel weird at first. But you'll get a hang of it."

"Raising Heart, can you take data of the magical energy around?" Nanoha asked.

[_All right, my master_]

"Data?" Marisa looked at Nanoha while tilting her head.

"Yes, I need the data or sample of the witch's magical energy and signature so that I can send it to Arthra for further analysis," Nanoha replied. It did not took long for Raising Heart to complete scanning the magical energy of the witch and it's surrounding.

"They're coming," Oriko said. Their presence was noticed by several witch's familiar around the area. It immediately charged towards Oriko and the rest.

"Are those the witches?" Signum asked as she took a fighting stance.

"No, they're just witch's familiar. In other words, they're just minions," Oriko replied.

She then conjured dozens of spheres in front her and started shooting towards the familiars. Marisa only shoots small projectiles towards the familiars. But she tried her best to minimize her attack so that Nanoha and the others could gain more experience in fighting familiars and witches. Signum, Vita, Arf and Zafira only engaged the familiar in melee combat. They did not want to waste any cartridge since the familiars are quite weak in their view. While Shamal stand by behind Hayate in case the familiars wanted to attack Hayate. Although Hayate was able to use magic, admiral Lindy had adviced her not to strain herself when using too much magic since she had just recovered from the book of darkness incident a year ago.

"Axel shooter. Shoot!" Nanoha shouted. Twelve pink small orbs formed around her and shot towards the familiars. Since it does not disappear immediately after it hit's the familiars, Nanoha found it easier to use it several times simply by controlling it.

"Plasma lancer!" Fate also casted dozens of bolts of yellow energy projectiles in a shape of an arrowhead. It created a zapping sound as it hit's the familiars.

Hayate only continuously casted several projectile towards the familiars. Oriko looked at the three of them and the rest with full of amazement. She had not seen someone could fight the familiars effortlessly like all of them, aside from Reimu and the others. Swarms of familiars continued to attack them as they went further inside the witch's barrier.

"Is it really this hard to find the witch?" Hayate asked.

"Yes, since all the familiars tend to attack anyone who entered the witch's barrier. But we're getting close to the witch," Oriko replied. They stood in front of a weird looking gate after they faced final wave of familiars. As soon as they passed through the gate, they were transferred into a large room filled with pile of boxes. The witch that is in the middle of the room also took the shape of the box. It noticed Oriko and the rest as they arrived at the room. "Look, that's the witch."

"That's the witch? It doesn't look fancy as the name suggest," Vita said.

"I agree with you, kid. I've always thought that it doesn't even look like a witch to me," Marisa said.

"It looks like someone is fighting with it," Hayate said as she pointed her finger. They looked at the silhouette that fought the witch, hopping around to avoid several projectiles. They immediately recognized the person as Kyoko. Kyoko noticed all of them that just arrived and landed near them

"Stay out of this. This one is mine," Kyoko yelled. Then she resumed her fight with the witch, ignoring Oriko and the rest.

"Should we help her?" Hayate asked.

"She told us to stay out of this while she was struggling to defeat it," Vita said.

"Let's help her so that she can finish this quickly," Oriko said.

All of them disperse and approached the witch from all direction. The witch started throwing several boxes available around it. Oriko had a hard time to dodge the incoming box projectiles since she was the only person who did not have the ability to fly. She conjured several spheres and shot it towards the witch. But the witch build a bunker in front of it while it continued to threw boxes at them. Kyoko split her spear into multiple sections, attached with chains. She whips her spear towards the bunker that the witch had built, destroying it little by little. Signum looked at Kyoko and her weapon with full of interest.

"Looks like someone used the same weapon form as you are, Signum," Vita said. "Maybe she could become your junior."

"Levantine, snake form," Signum commanded. Levantine ejected a cartridge before it extended and split itself into a long multiple section. It destroyed every projectile that the witch shot. Kyoko noticed Signum's weapon and could not help herself from feeling awe. That was the first time she saw someone who used similar weapon form as her.

Vita used swallow flier to attack the witch. But barrage of boxes that kept coming towards them started to get intense that the swallow flier hit the projectile instead of the witch. Nanoha and the others used their shield as they barely managed to dodge the incoming projectile. They were amazed at Marisa when they saw her easily avoid, grazed and passed between the projectiles.

"It seems using we cannot hit it with projectiles," Oriko said.

"I thought it was an easy kill," Shamal said.

"Steel yoke!" Zafira casted his magic upon the witch and restricted it's movement.

"Now's our chance," Arf said as she used chain bind to restrict the witch's movement even more. The others nodded and started attacking the witch. This time swallow flier shot by Vita hit the witch. Signum's Laventine reformed back into a sword before it enveloped with flame. She charged towards the witch at high speed and hit it with her sword, creating a high explosion. Hayate, Oriko and Marisa only shot dozens of projectiles. Kyoko continued to attack the witch by herself, ignoring Oriko and the others.

"Divine buster!" Nanoha commanded Raising Heart. She shot off a pink beam towards the witch.

"Haken saber!" Fate swung her Bardiche that are in haken form, releasing a thin mana blade. The witch could not defend itself from the attack since it was restricted by steel yoke and chain bind. It let out a roar before it finally fall onto the floor, admit it's defeat. The witch's barrier started to crumble as it disappeared into thin air. Soon they all found themselves back at the alleyway. They all except Marisa changed back into their normal clothes.

"I didn't expect the witch is quite strong," Hayate said as she let out a big sigh of relief.

"Well, it is a creature with magical attribute and powers," Marisa said. "It makes sense that we couldn't defeat it easily."

"Miss Kyoko?" Oriko noticed that Kyoko stood near them. She ignored Oriko as she picked up the grief seed on the floor. She turned and started walking away from them without saying anything.

"Hey, you don't even say 'thank you' to us for helping you," Vita said. "And we are the one who should have that grief seed."

"I told you earlier to stay out of my way. I didn't even recall that I need your help. Leave this city or I'll make sure you'll be hurt," Kyoko replied as she took out a box of pocky from her pocket, stuffing one of it into her mouth. Then she left Oriko and the others.

"I'm kinda dislike her. She's really arrogant," Arf said.

"She even took the grief seed," Shamal said.

"It can't be helped," Oriko said. "But that's okay."

"Let's go on another witch hunt. We still have time to spare," Marisa said with a grin. The rest nodded in response. They all left the alleyway and went to another place.

...

It was already evening when Oriko and the others are on their way to the mansion. They did not worry about going back in the afternoon since they already had their lunch at a restaurant earlier. The sky had turned orange in colour as the sun sets into the horizon. They had fought dozens of witches with various appearances, shapes and sizes and managed to collect a lot of grief seeds. It was all because Nanoha and the others were strong and the fact that the witches were outnumbered by them.

"Miss Marisa," Nanoha suddenly spoke, catching Marisa's attention who responded with a 'hmm?'. "You seemed to hold back your magic. Why?"

"Let's just say I want you all to be familiar in engaging witches," Marisa replied.

"We saw how you easily passed between the projectiles that the witches shot in every battle earlier. That was amazing," Shamal said.

"Thanks. That was nothing compared to what I've used to experienced," Marisa said.

"Compare to what you've experienced?" Signum repeated Marisa's word and changed it into a question.

"Yeah, I'll show you what I meant by that when we have free time," Marisa said with a grin. Soon they arrived at the mansion. Alice greeted them as they entered the mansion.

"I think we're better get home," Fate said. "We've got school tomorrow."

"Ah, you're right," Nanoha replied.

"You're leaving already?" Oriko asked.

"Yes," Nanoha replied. She bowed slightly towards Oriko, Alice and Marisa. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"How about you, Hayate?" Fate asked. "You still haven't started your school term right?"

"Yes, I'll be start going to school next two months. But I guess I'll be heading back too," Hayate replied.

"You can stay here as long as you like. You don't have to worry," Oriko said with a smile.

"But we don't want to trouble you and the others too much, miss Oriko," Hayate said.

"No, you all aren't a burden at all," Oriko said. "In fact, I'm really happy if you can stay since you don't go to school."

"But didn't you have to go to school, miss Oriko?" Shamal asked.

"I've dropped out from school," Oriko replied after she went silent for a few second. Nanoha and the others understood the reason she left her school life.

"If you insist, then the five of us will stay with you for a while," Hayate said after she thought about Oriko's offer for a few minute. Her answer had made Oriko smiled happily. Seeing Oriko's smile made Hayate felt relieved. She felt pity that Oriko was treated badly by everyone in the city. She had a thought that Oriko was not to blame because of her father's action and should not suffer the consequences. So the least thing that she could do was to enlighten Oriko's feeling and lonesome.

"Well, we'll be leaving now," Arf said. She, Fate and Nanoha bowed slightly at the others before Arf casted a dimensional transfer spell. Soon they disappeared into thin air.

"Are they using a teleportation spell?" Patchouli who was just arrived at the front of the mansion's door asked.

"Yes they are," Vita replied, looking at Patchouli.

"Convenient," Patchouli muttered with a smile before she floated away from them and went into a study room that Oriko had at her mansion. The rest looked at her with question in their mind about what she meant by what she had just said.

"Let's get some rest. There's still time before dinner," Marisa said, putting her hands behind her head as she started walking. Oriko, Hayate and the rest followed Marisa from behind.

"Umm... Miss Marisa," Oriko suddenly spoke.

"Yes, what is it?" Marisa looked at Oriko. Oriko kept quiet for a few second. It seemed that she was hesitated to say anything that she had in mind.

"I have a request," Oriko finally said.

* * *

**At Arthra:**

"Admiral, Nanoha and the others had sent us some data about witches," Chrono said.

"Ah, I see," Lindy replied. Her mind was concentrated on several letter on her desk.

"Another letter?" Amy asked.

"Yes, this letter kept coming and everything was according this the plan that was stated in it," Lindy said as she slumped on her chair.

"Let's just hope that it doesn't lead us to something miserable," Chrono said.

"I agree."

_To be continued..._

* * *

**Afterword**:

Greetings.

Well, chapter 5 is finally out. I published this chapter early today since I'll be busy later on. Things started to get tense as the story goes on. I want to thank you for the reviews that I've received so far. I've appreciate each and every review being made, including ideas that were given to me through it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Conflict**

The sun was rising at Mitakihara city as the people who lived there were getting ready for their long and tired day. Some of them passed by Oriko's mansion, but they did not bother to care about it even for a bit. Instead they felt hatred deep inside their heart towards the Mikuni family ever since they found out that Oriko's father, Mikuni Hisaomi, was a corrupted politician. They assumed that the mansion was already empty since lately they did not saw Oriko coming out from the mansion. But the truth was that they could not see or hear anything beyond the mansion's gate unless if they passed through it.

Mikuni Oriko was panting and sweating heavily as she stood at the middle of the mansion's garden. She was in her magical girl outfit, conjuring countless spheres around her while looking at someone who was floating in the mid air. The person was wearing a dark blue maid outfit with an apron and held a knife on her left hand. Her grey eyes matched her silver hair perfectly. Oriko was hesitated to shoot her sphere towards the person because every effort that she made was in vain.

"I can see you're still hesitating to attack," the person who appeared to be Sakuya said. "If you don't try and attack me again, I suppose I'll attack you then."

"Shoot!" Oriko shouted. She launched the spheres that she conjured earlier towards Sakuya, trying to avoid Sakuya from throwing her knife. Sakuya effortlessly dodged the incoming projectiles.

"Your attack still has a lot of opening. You need to increase your projectiles," Sakuya said with a small smile.

"Yes, miss Sakuya," Oriko replied. She tried to increase the amount of spheres that she could conjure. She felt that she was at her limit. She glanced at her soul gem that was getting darker because she had not cleansed it since yesterday. But she did not want to give up just yet. She released her spheres again towards Sakuya. But once again Sakuya dodged and grazed between the projectiles. Oriko fell on her knee as she panted, trying to recover her energy. She could try to conjure some spheres but it seemed Sakuya was going to attack her since she had lifted her arm, ready to throw her knife.

"Here I come," Sakuya said as she threw the knife that she held which suddenly multiplied into countless knives and flew towards Oriko.

"Star Diamond Reflection!" Oriko conjured five small white star shaped diamonds in front of her before it merged and created a large star shaped barrier. Since she could not dodge the knives in front of her, the only thing that she could do at that moment was to set up a defense barrier. Oriko had tried to develop her magical abilities for the past two days. Since Marisa was the one who helped Oriko for the first time, she had recommended a star shaped barrier. While it was Hayate who excitedly named the new technique that Oriko had leant. Naming the technique had helped Oriko in remembering and imagining how the spell works.

The knives knocked and bounced off as it hits Oriko's barrier. But she could not hold off her barrier for too long since conjuring spheres earlier had drained out most of her energy. Oriko's eyes widened as she saw her barrier finally cracked and shattered into pieces, knocking her to the ground. She struggled as she tried to get up, but it seemed she did not have energy to move anymore. Sakuya smiled as she slowly decended from the air.

"I lost," Oriko finally admit defeat. She smiled back at Sakuya as she changed back from her magical girl outfit into her normal clothes. Sakuya approached and helped her standing up.

"You did well for a beginner," Remilia said as she appoached the two of them. It seemed she was satisfied that her maid won against Oriko. Sakuya only bowed at Remilia without saying anything.

"Thank you," Oriko said.

Oriko had been conducting her training session every morning for the past two days. She could not complain since she was the one who requested to be trained to use her magic efficiently and effectively by Reimu and the others. On the first day, she had to face Alice and her dolls. Oriko had no problem in dodging Alice's projectiles and dolls. But she had a hard time engaging an attack since Alice used her dolls to defend herself and distracting Oriko from conjuring spheres. Marisa who was in charge of training Oriko on the second day only focused on shooting star shaped projectiles. That morning, Oriko had to face Sakuya since Remilia ordered her to participate. While Alice and Marisa went a little bit easy on her, Sakuya on the other hand was the opposite.

"Amazing," Shamal widened her eyes. "No matter how I look at it, the fight was amazing."

Shamal and the others were sitting on the balcony, watching at the battle between Oriko and Sakuya. Their eyes were full of amazement as they saw the amazing stunt that Alice, Marisa and Sakuya had pulled since the first day of Oriko's training. Only Nanoha and Fate could not manage to watch the training because the two of them had to go to school. They could only watch the training from a video that was recorded by Signum. While it was normal for someone to use a magic shield to defend, but they saw that Marisa and the other two only dodged and grazed between countless sphere projectiles that Oriko shot without using any shield.

"Is it normal for you all to be able to dodge countless projectiles that easily? Did you always have a duel like this?" Signum asked Marisa who was sitting beside her.

"Yeah," Marisa replied.

"The only problem is that the projectiles aren't lethal," Vita said.

"Though it wasn't lethal, it still hurts if you were knocked by it," Patchouli said.

"We can make it lethal," Reimu said as she sipped her tea. "It's just that I don't want people to kill each other."

"The only thing Oriko was lacking right now is she couldn't control her spheres and change it into homing projectiles. Maybe we can teach her that later," Vita said.

"That's a great idea," Marisa said with a grin. "Can we count on you guys to help her with that?"

"We'll try."

"Another problem is that she couldn't fly," Signum said.

"Yeah, I wonder if we can help her with that," Reimu said.

"Everyone, breakfast is ready," they heard Hayate's voice calling to them from inside the mansion. That morning Hayate had helped Alice in preparing breakfast since Oriko was busy training. She insisted in helping since she did not want the five of them to be the freeloader at the mansion.

"We're coming," Shamal replied back at Hayate. All of them went inside the mansion, including Oriko and Sakuya who were just finished their training. As usual they enjoyed the breakfast that are being prepared as soon as they sat around the dining table.

"By the way," Patchouli suddenly spoke, letting out a small cough. Everyone in the dining room looked at her. "After this, I want to discuss something with you all. I hope everyone will come to the study room."

"Is it something important?" Remilia asked.

"Yes, at least to me," Patchouli replied. As soon as they finished their breakfast, all of them immediately went towards the study room. Inside, large and long table was being placed in the middle of the room. The bookshelves are mostly filled with books about politics. Since that was the first time Hayate and the others went in, they saw the study room was filled with papers and books lying on the floor and on the table. It was a spacious but rather messy room. It seemed to them that Patchouli had been studying and researching a lot. There were also books floating around the room. Marisa took every book that floated near her and flipped to look the content inside.

"Hey, aren't these books yours?" Marisa asked Patchouli. "How did you even manage to bring all of these?"

"Yukari brought them over for me and Koakuma helped her gathering all of my books. It's hard for me to find reference here at the outside world since magic is uncommon here," Patchouli replied. Hayate tilted her head as she heard what Patchouli had just said.

_Yukari? Koakuma? Outside world?_ Hayate thought. She wanted to ask what Patchouli meant by those, but she did not dare to interrupt their conversation.

"So, any new information about the witches and magical girls?" Alice asked.

"Sadly, there's none," Patchouli replied. "That's why I want to talk to you all about it. According to the information that we were given four days ago, we have three weeks before the time will be reversed. Now we've only got less than three weeks and so far I can't get enough information regarding it."

"What about the soul gem and the grief seeds?" Shamal asked. "I think there's a connection between the two of it and the witches. I mean, I don't see the reason magical girls need to use the grief seeds to restore their soul gem and their magical powers since usually magical energy will replenish by itself."

"Maybe they want to avoid the witches from being revived back," Hayate tried to make a theory. She recalled back when Oriko once used a grief seed that it revived back the witch that they had defeated. Patchouli glanced at Shamal, Hayate and the rest before letting out a small cough.

"It's hard for me to explain about it for now. I need to verify the matter," Patchouli replied. Several grief seeds that she kept floated towards her. Each grief seed were confined inside a crystal. "I've tried several experiments and I still haven't found a good result."

"How about you all?" Oriko asked, looking at Hayate. "Did you find any clue regarding the culprit of your time distortion problem?"

"We also found nothing," Hayate replied, shaking her head.

"So, what should we do now?" Reimu asked with a big sigh. "We're not getting anywhere."

"I suggest we'll go and spy on Kyuubey or we 'accidentally' meet him to gain information," Remilia suddenly spoke. Her suggestion surprised everyone in the room.

"Wait a minute! You want us to reveal ourselves!? Didn't we planned to hide our presence?" Marisa asked.

"We seemed to have little choice now. As Pache said, we've run out of time and the situation has to be changed now. We need to take a step to move forward although we know it's risky. But believe me... It won't be risky as we thought."

"No way! I'm not gonna take the risk! We don't know what will happen if we're going to spy or meet him," Marisa argued.

"Then who's gonna spy or meet him? How are we going to find him?" Signum asked. They all looked at Oriko, who seemed surprised in response.

"Ermm... If you all want to ask me about how to meet Kyuubey, I don't know myself," Oriko explained. "He just popped out of nowhere and offered me to make a wish before."

"Maybe we can ask someone like miss Kyoko about witches since I felt that she was knowledgeable," Reimu suggested.

"That's a great idea," Oriko clapsed her hands.

"I wouldn't want to involve with her. She's too arrogant. Not to mention she thought that the witches in the other city are only for her," Vita said. She recalled back what happened four days ago when they met Kyoko. She had threatened them to leave the city since it was her territory or she would hurt Oriko.

"But if we want her to understand us, we need to talk to her. I'm sure sooner or later she'll be nice to us," Hayate said with a smile. Reimu was quite amazed at how optimistic Hayate was, no matter how bad the situations were. She had not seen Hayate got angry or frowned even once ever since she and the wolkenritter stayed at Oriko's mansion.

"Miss Hayate's right. I know it's hard for us to make her understand us, but I think if we try to understand her, then maybe she'll help us," Reimu said.

"Well, that's another way to take the risk," Patchouli said. "But I think it'll be better if we conceal our magic if we are to spy or meet Kyuubey."

"But wouldn't miss Kyoko met Kyuubey by chance now and told him all about us?" Alice asked.

"Hmm, that's a good point since it's likely that she may be frequently in contact with Kyuubey," Shamal said.

All of them went silent as their discussions did not have any resolve and going towards a dead end. Patchouli was flipping through some books and notes that she wrote about grief seeds, witches, magical girls and Kyuubey. Remilia only continued to sip her tea while closing her eyes. Alice's doll hovered around, carrying a teapot to refill any empty teacup. Reimu let out few sighs as her mind was totally empty. The rest tried their best to come up with some plan and suggestion. But it seemed that they were also out of idea. The only plans that they had to take at the moment were either spy or met Kyuubey by 'accident' or ask Kyoko about witches and bring them to meet Kyuubey.

"I think I'm going to the store to buy some foods and stuff," Oriko said as she finally got up from her seat and looked at the clock on the wall. It was about two hours before noon. Reimu also stood and followed Oriko as she also wanted to go outside since she had been confining herself in the mansion for four days in a row.

"Can Shamal and I come too?" Hayate asked. "I think we can help you in finding and buying groceries."

Oriko nodded with a smile. Since the people in the city had shown disrespect, dispute and hatred towards Oriko, she had to wear a T-shirt, a jean and a cap so that no one would recognize her. While Reimu wore a simple white dress since she would attract people's attention if she wore her miko outfit. Hayate and Shamal did not worry about clothes since they had brought theirs from their home. The four of them left the mansion and took a train to Kizamino city. As soon as they went out of the train, they immediately went towards the centre of the city. The weather was quite hot that morning that Reimu and the others were sweating all over their body. Since the azure sky was devoid of clouds, they could feel their skin was heating up by the sunlight. Even the wind that blew throughout the city was warm and dry. They headed towards a huge supermarket that Oriko always went since it provides a very decent price for anything that were sold there. They took anything that they found necessary to stock in their food supplies.

After they done buying some groceries, Oriko brought the three of them to a cloth shop to buy some clothes for Reimu and the others to wear when they go outside. Although Reimu preferred to wear her miko outfit, but she could not bear to watch Oriko feel sad if she rejected her offer. Moreover, she did not want to burden Oriko by borrowing her clothes. Ever since Oriko met Reimu, Nanoha and the others, Reimu could saw that she was very happy. The first time she met her, she could only feel sorrow and grief inside Oriko as if she looked at them with an empty eyes. As lunch time comes around, they immediately went to the restaurant to fill up their empty stomach. Oriko did not have any problems with money since her father had left her with fortunes that were kept in secret.

"We sure bought a lot today," Oriko said while humming happily as they left the restaurant. She felt that was her first time to go out with someone that she could regard as friends in a long time.

"Yeah," Hayate said with a smile. Then she took a peek inside a shopping bag that she held. "You even bought for us some clothes, including for Nanoha, Fate and Arf. We're sorry for causing you such trouble."

"It's okay. After all, I'm happy that I can buy something for you all."

"I'm glad we're coming along with you or else it'll be hard for you two to carry all the items we've bought," Shamal said.

"Yeah, thank you for helping us," Oriko said. She noticed that Reimu had not spoken ever since they left the restaurant. "Miss Reimu, is something wrong?"

"Someone's following us," Reimu replied. Oriko seemed surprised and tried to look at her surroundings. But Reimu quickly grabbed and stopped her because haste and suspicious movement like that would be noticed by the person who followed them. Hayate and Shamal only kept calm while their eyes observed everything around them. But they did not saw anyone suspicious.

"What should we do?" Hayate asked.

"We can go to some isolated area and quickly use dimensional transfer," Shamal suggested. Reimu, Oriko and Hayate nodded in agreement. They moved quickly towards the alleyway, away from the crowd. But before Shamal could do anything, a spear was being thrown toward Oriko from above. Oriko barely managed to dodge the spear. They immediately knew the owner of the spear as they recognized its shape and colour.

"I didn't expect you to be able to dodge my spear," a voice said as the person slowly jumped down the building. They looked at the person who was Sakura Kyoko in her magical girl outfit.

"Miss Kyoko," Oriko widened her eyes as she was still shocked from the attack earlier. She knew that Kyoko had threatened to hurt her before. But Oriko did not expect that she was serious about it. Suddenly, something that looked like a chain formed around them. Only that it was diamond in shape and its colour was red and black. Reimu looked to her left, right and above. It seemed the chain had blocked their entire possible escape path.

"Didn't I tell you that this city is my territory and I want you all to leave? I remember I said that I will hurt you if you continue to hunt witches here. You all even killed familiars," Kyoko said, conjuring another spear on her hand. "It seems you all are very stubborn. Oh, don't worry about escaping from here. I've already set up a barrier. Now we can have some fun."

"Familiars?" Reimu asked.

"Familiars didn't drop grief seeds if you defeated it. So you should let it kill people before it evolved into a witch. I'm not going to tell you more than that since I want to take you down right here," Kyoko replied. Reimu gritted her teeth in annoyance when she heard Kyoko said something like that. She felt Kyoko was very selfish to let someone be killed by something that she refered to as a familiar to let it evolve into a witch.

"Miss Kyoko, can we discuss things properly?" Hayate asked. Instead of replying to Hayate's question, Kyoko detached her spear into several segments and lashed it towards Oriko.

"Star Diamond Reflection!" Oriko quickly changed into her magical girl outfit and conjured the star shaped defense barrier to deflect Kyoko's attack. Since she had already cleanse her soul gem, her barrier was stronger than the one that she conjured earlier in the morning.

"Are you a kid or something? You even give name to your technique," Kyoko said with a smirk as she continued to lash her detached spear towards Oriko. Oriko on the other hand only defend the attack without countering back. Kyoko continued to rebuke her as she saw her action. "What's wrong? Are you too afraid to attack?"

Oriko only ignored Kyoko's insult. In her mind, she wanted to talk and discuss peacefully with Kyoko. But it was impossible since Kyoko did not stop her assault. Reimu wanted to do something to stop Kyoko. But Oriko shooked her head as she looked at Reimu, indicating that she did not want her to do anything. Suddenly, several binds formed and wrapped around Kyoko's body, restricting her movement. Kyoko cursed under her breath as she looked at Reimu and the others.

"Grr! Darn it! Release me at once! Fight me fair and square, you cowards!" Kyoko yelled as she could not hold her anger anymore. She struggled to break free from the bind although she knew her effort was futile.

"Miss Shamal, prepare to use your teleportation magic," Reimu said. Shamal only nodded. As soon as she dispels the bind, Kyoko reattached her spear before she tried to dash in as fast as she could. But she did not managed to land an attack as Reimu and the others disappeared into the thin air. She looked around but found no trace of them.

"Darn it!" Kyoko yelled into the air.

...

"I'm glad we made it back safely," Hayate said as the four of them arrived at the mansion's garden. She felt relieved after she made sure they were unharmed and the items they bought were undamaged.

"We're home," Reimu said as they entered the mansion.

"Welcome back," Marisa who was sitting on a chair near the front door with Signum greeted them. They were flipping through some books. The yellow-brownish colour of the paper of the books indicates that the book was very old.

"What are you two reading?" Hayate asked.

"Some magic books and grimores that we've borrowed from miss Patchouli," Signum replied. "So how did it go?"

"Well, we've bought a lot of goods," Shamal said. "And miss Oriko bought new clothes for all of us too."

"Wow! Thank you Oriko!" Marisa said with a smile as she peeked at one of the shopping bags that were full of clothes. Then she noticed Oriko only kept silent without responding. She was looking down ever since they entered the mansion. Marisa waved her hand in front of Oriko's face, trying to gain her attention.

"Huh?" Oriko seemed startled as she snapped back into the reality. Then she looked at Reimu, Hayate, Shamal and Marisa before she curved a small smile. "I-is there something wrong?"

"I'm the one who should be asking that. Are you okay? You seemed pale," Marisa looked at Oriko, tilting her head.

"I-I'm okay," Oriko replied hastily. She quickly loosens her shoes and went passed Marisa and the other four before she turned her head at them. "I just need a little rest, that's all."

Marisa only looked at Oriko who slowly walked away from them, disappeared into the main hall. Reimu, Hayate and Shamal only exchanged looks.

"What happened?" Signum asked as she turned towards Shamal.

"Something happened to us just a while ago," Shamal replied.

...

Oriko was sitting on her bed, staring blankly at her soul gem. Afternoon sunlight that penetrated through the window's curtain brightened up her bedroom. But her heart was not as bright as the sun that shone. Her mind was disturbed by thoughts that came and went one after another. After Kyoko had shown hostility towards her, she felt that her hope started to shatter and her dream world started to crumble. Her tears started to swell as her mind kept rewinding and playing her bad memories, but she managed to hold if off as she heard a knock on the door. She slowly went to open the door and saw Marisa stood in front of her with a smile, followed by Hayate and Signum.

"Can we come in?" Marisa asked. Oriko only nodded without saying a word. She sat back at her bed while Marisa and Hayate sat on a chair opposite of Oriko. Signum only leaned against the wall near the window. Oriko continued to look at her soul gem without looking up. Marisa also stared at Oriko's soul gem that started to become dimmed and tainted after the fight before she finally scratched the back of her head as she started to get uncomfortable of the awkward atmosphere. Usually Oriko would at least tell or ask something at her.

"Say..." Oriko finally spoke, gaining their attention. "I felt it's useless for me to continue living."

"What makes you said that?" Hayate asked. She was a little bit surprised to hear Oriko said something like that.

"Everyone hates me. Even miss Kyoko tried to hurt me," Oriko replied.

"Aww, don't say something like that," Marisa said. "Not everyone hates you. You still have us here as your friends."

"But... You all will be leaving after you solved your problems right?" Oriko asked a question which the question itself was the answer. Marisa was speechless as she could not think something to cheer Oriko up. She knew that Oriko was right about what she had just said. After they solved the incident they will be heading back to Gensokyo.

Nanoha and the others might also leave Mitakihara city if they caught the culprit of the problem they faced. If that happens, Oriko will be left all alone once again to face the harsh reality. That may be the reason Oriko wanted to befriend Kyoko. But now it seemed impossible for Oriko. Marisa hugged Oriko firmly for a few second before she let go although she knew Oriko was older than her and might dislike her action. But she felt it was the right thing to do to cheer her up. Hayate looked at Signum and nodded.

"It's just like you said. We may be leaving this city as soon as we solved our problem," Signum said.

"I see," Oriko said. She went silent once again as she looked at her soul gem.

"Miss Oriko, don't say that everyone hates you, " Hayate said as she touched Oriko's hand gently. "If there's someone who hates you, there will be someone who will care for you. I know that you're sad that miss Kyoko still showed her hostility towards you to the extent of hurting you. But I believe that if you'd do anything and everything, she'll understand you eventually."

Oriko widened her eyes as Hayate's word made her realized her childish and immature thoughts compared to Hayate. She thought that Hayate must had been experiencing something that led her to become a mature person at such a young age. She felt that her clouded mind slowly vanished and her burden had been lifted up. Hope started to appear back in her heart after she heard Hayate's words. Her selfish thoughts had made Marisa, Hayate and Signum concerned about her. Maybe Reimu and the rest also felt the same if they were to hear what Oriko had just said earlier.

"Miss Oriko, you mentioned that you had your wish granted before right? May we know what your wish was?" Signum asked.

"I... wish to know the purpose and meaning of my life," Oriko replied.

"I see," Signum said with a nod. "If you wished for that, then seek for it. I know it'll be hard at first and you'll be facing a lot of trials. But believe me... Even if you couldn't find the purpose or the meaning of your life right now, but if you're patient enough I'm sure you'll be able to find the answer eventually."

"Thank... you... for the encouragement... I don't know what to say anymore," Oriko said as she tried to curve a small smile. Her tears slowly rolled down her cheeks before she wiped it out. Marisa, Hayate and Signum only nodded and returned the smile.

"By the way, your soul gem is getting duller and tainted than when I saw earlier. You'd better cleanse it," Marisa said, pointing her finger at Oriko's soul gem.

"That's strange. I've already cleansed my soul gem this morning," Oriko said as she just noticed the sudden change in her soul gem. Her mind was disturbed by her thoughts that she did not observed completely the condition of her soul gem.

"Maybe you've used it too much earlier during Kyoko's assault," Signum stated her opinion.

"But I remember I only used a barrier," Oriko said, putting her hand under her chin as she tried so hard to remember whether she used her magic excessively or not.

"I agree. I didn't saw miss Oriko conjured any spheres at all," Hayate clarified Oriko's statement.

"That's weird," Marisa scratched her head. "I'll ask Patchouli about this later. Maybe she know something about it."

"Okay," Oriko said.

"Let's go and make a dinner," Hayate said with a smile, trying to cheer Oriko up. Oriko nodded and tried to smile back in response before she stood up.

...

"Hey, are you sure about this?" Reimu asked as she and the rest were gathering inside the mansion's study room that afternoon, discussing about a magic that Patchouli had just developed.

"I'm positive," Patchouli replied.

"But wouldn't it be better if you guys use our magic?" Zafira asked.

"It'll be convenient for us to have this magic just in case you and your friends aren't around us," Patchouli said.

"I see."

"Ah, here you all are," Marisa said as she, Oriko, Hayate and Signum entered the study room. "We've been searching for you guys. What're you doing?"

"Miss Patchouli was trying to do an experiment on her newly developed magic," Shamal replied.

"Newly developed magic?" Hayate asked.

"It's just a teleportation magic though which I've crafted it into a spell card... Nothing fancy," Patchouli said.

"But why do we need the teleportation magic?" Marisa asked.

"For convenient."

"So that's what you meant by 'convenient' before," Oriko said. Patchouli just nodded without further explanation.

"So, who will try the magic first?" Remilia asked.

"I'll try," Alice answered. Patchouli nodded and and gave Alice some of the teleportation spell card. Alice stood and walked away from the rest towards the edge of the study room before she turned around to look at them. Reimu and the others watched the card began to glow faintly as Alice held the spell card above her.

"Spell card! Transfer!" Alice shouted. White light warped around Alice before she disappeared into small light particles.

"Does it work?" Signum asked.

"Yes it does," Patchouli replied with a smile.

"Wait! Where did she teleported to?" Marisa asked.

"Who knows," Patchouli replied with a smile. Then she took out something from her sleeve. "Well since all of us had this convenient item called a cell phone, let's just wait for the result from her when she email or call us."

...

Alice opened her eyes as soon as the bright white light around her fades away. She slowly looked and observed the area around her. She somehow arrived at a lawn filled with various flowers on a rooftop of a building. No one was at that place beside her. Alice noticed a door near her and immediately opened it. It leads to some stairs that went downwards. As she walked down the stairs, it led her to another door. Alice opened the door and saw a lot of people in front of her, walking through a corridor. All of them stopped and stared at her with a curious look since Alice still wore her usual dress. It seemed to them that Alice was a foreigner, judging by her appearance. Alice looked at the people around her. Some of them used a wheelchair. There are also people with some bandages on parts of their body. She assumed that she was at a hospital.

_Oh, I forgot to change my clothes. More importantly, why did I teleported here?_ Alice thought. She shrugged her thoughts as she began to start walking, ignoring all the people although their gaze made her uncomfortable. Alice tried to find an exit, but instead she ended up walking endlessly in the maze of corridor and hallway. She sighed heavily as she started to get tired walking around.

"Excuse me miss," Alice could hear a voice behind her. She turned around and saw a teenage girl with short blue hair. She was wearing a school uniform and carrying a school bag behind her back. Alice observed her before the girl spoke again, "Um... Can I help you, miss? You seemed to have some kind of trouble."

"Well, I'm trying to find the exit but I'm kinda lost in this big hospital," Alice said. "Could you show me the way?"

"Sure," the girl replied with a smile. "But pardon me. I was wondering why you didn't ask the people around you earlier if you're lost."

"I'm a little bit uncomfortable to be around the crowds here since they stared at me too much," Alice said. The girl only nodded although she felt that the answer did not match her question.

"Ah, I see. Well, I think they felt weird to see a foreigner in this hospital," the girl said while looking at Alice's appearance. "By the way, I'm Miki Sayaka."

"I'm Alice Margatroid," Alice introduced herself before she bowed. She then remembered that Remilia had once mentioned someone named Miki Sayaka that she met at nearby city. She guessed that she was still at Mitakihara city at that moment.

_Is this a coincidence? No... This is more than a mere coincidence_, Alice thought as the two of them started walking. They entered an elevator and descended straight towards the ground floor. As soon as they got out of the elevator, Sayaka immediately approached a girl who was sitting on a bench nearby. She had a pink hair tied into a twintail and wore the same uniform as Sayaka. But what attracted Alice's attention was a white creature that sat beside the girl. At first glance, the creature seemed to be a white cat. But as Alice looked carefully, it seemed a little bit different since it had something like a long pair of ears with rings.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Sayaka said with a sigh.

"What's wrong? You didn't get to see Kamijou?" The girl asked.

"He seemed isn't doing very well today," Sayaka replied. She let out another sigh.

"Ah I see. By the way Sayaka, the lady behind you..." The girl pointed her finger towards Alice who stood behind Sayaka. Alice immediately bowed slightly towards the girl.

"Ah, her name is Alice Margatroid. She lost her way when I met her upstairs," Sayaka replied.

"Nice to meet you, miss Alice. I'm Kaname Madoka," the girl introduced herself. "Pardon me, but have we meet before?"

"I think we haven't," Alice replied. "Why?"

"I don't know. But I felt that I've saw you before," Madoka said. Suddenly her mind unconsciously recalled the dreams that she kept having recently. She saw in her dreams several girls that she had not met before. But since the dream was vague, she could not see their face clearly. But Madoka had the feeling that one of the girls in her dream was Alice. Madoka then noticed that Alice had been staring at her as she snapped back from her daydream. "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that you had a cute pet," Alice said as she pointed her finger at the white creature that was now leaning on Madoka's shoulder.

"Eh!? You can see Kyuubey!?" Sayaka seemed startled but she managed to keep her voice low so that she would not attract other people's attention. Alice widened her eyes when she heard the creature's name was Kyuubey.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... Not anyone can see him. You can say that only someone with magical potential and are chosen by Kyuubey could see him," Madoka explained.

"I see," Alice said.

"Nice to meet you, miss Alice. I'm Kyuubey. I can grant people's wish and make miracles happen, no matter what," Alice was unfazed seeing Kyuubey being able to communicate with her telepathically while keeping his 'smiling' cat face expression. She guessed that it was to avoid from the person who were able to see him 'talking alone'. But she pretended to be surprised when she heard Kyuubey talked.

"So you can grant people's wish?" Alice asked.

"Yes but it is only limited to one wish only and in return for the wish that they've made, they must fight a creature known as a witch," Kyuubey replied. "And since you can see me, I think you have a potential to become a magical girl. Make a contract with me and I will offer you to make a wish so that I can grant it."

"I think I'll pass. I don't have anything worth wishing for," Alice said as she put her hand under her chin. She tried to act normally so that she would not become someone suspicious. She then noticed something in Kyuubey's words just now and thought, _So... He used some sweet talk to persuade any girls that come in contact with him to make a wish and become a magical girl without giving further explanation_.

"Ah, I see. But if you ever had something that you're wishing for, I suppose you can let me know," Kyuubey said. Alice only nodded without saying anything.

"Well, let's lead miss Alice the way out and go home," Madoka said with a smile. The four of them walked out of the hospital and went pass through a bicycle parking lot before Madoka suddenly stopped and looked at the wall. Sayaka and Alice also stopped and turned around, looking at Madoka.

"Madoka, what's wrong?" Sayaka asked.

"Umm... Isn't that..." Madoka trailed off as she pointed her finger at something at the wall. Sayaka and Alice looked at the direction that Madoka pointed and saw a grief seed pinned on the wall, glowing faintly.

"It's a grief seed! The witch inside it nearly hatched!" Kyuubey said. "Let's avoid this place or we'll be trapped inside the witch's barrier."

"Why is it here of all places!?" Sayaka let out a small growl. In her mind, if the grief seed hatched and release the barrier then a lot of people will accidentally enter it. She then turned towards Madoka and asked, "Madoka, do you have Mami's phone number?"

"No," Madoka replied.

"You go and find Mami. I'll stay here and keep an eye on the grief seed," Sayaka said.

"I'll stay here with Sayaka just in case," Kyuubey said.

"Okay," Madoka said. She looked at Alice who pretended to be confused on the situation. "Miss Alice, I'll lead you to the main entrance."

"Is something going to happen?" Alice asked.

"The creature called a witch that Kyuubey mentioned earlier is going to appear," Madoka said. "We need to get out of here."

"But what about miss Sayaka?"

"I'll be fine," Sayaka answered. Alice nodded and followed Madoka.

"Here we are. I hope we'll see each other again soon. Goodbye and have a nice day," Madoka said as they arrived at the main entrance. She bowed towards Alice before she turned around and walked away. Alice only watched Madoka disappeared at the corner of the street before she started walking.

...

"Do we have time before the seed hatch?" Sayaka asked Kyuubey.

"I don't know. But it seems it won't be long," Kyuubey replied.

"I see," Sayaka clenched her hands. She thought that Mami and Madoka would not be able to arrive at short time. She hoped that she would not be in trouble if she was trapped inside the barrier alone.

"I think you'll need a company," Sayaka was startled as she heard Alice's voice.

"Miss Alice!? What're you doing here? I thought you're already left with Madoka," Sayaka asked.

"I am," Alice replied with a smile. "But I came back here because I'm worry about you."

"Please stay back. I don't want anything happ-..." Sayaka could not finish her sentence as the grief seed flashed with bright white light before the environment around the three of them gradually changed. Soon they found themselves inside the witch's barrier.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Sadness**

The azure sky gradually turned dark as Alice, Sayaka and Kyuubey got absorbed into the witch's barrier. Few seconds before, they were at the hospital near the bicycle parking lot. But now the area around them was filled with various sizes of candies, donuts and other sweet foods. They could also see large size syringe, needles, medicine bottles and pills.

"Hey, what's this place?" Alice asked as she looked at Sayaka who seemed worried. Since she had to keep her identity and her magic a secret, she had to pretend that she did not know anything about witches and magical girls.

"It's a witch's barrier. We're trapped inside it," Sayaka replied.

"So does that means we can't escape?"

"Yeah. Now we're gonna have to wait for Madoka and our senior to arrive here and defeat the witch. I don't know if you're willing to believe me or not, but our senior is a magical girl."

"I see. I'll believe you since I just saw this place that we're in right now with my own eyes," Alice said. If she could recall her memories correctly, Remilia had also mentioned names like Tomoe Mami and Akemi Homura. Since she had seen Homura before, she assumed that the senior that Sayaka meant was Tomoe Mami.

"One of you can defeat the witch if you want to," Kyuubey suddenly interrupted. "Just make a wish and make a contract with me."

Alice ignored him as she started walking around the barrier after she carefully observed her surroundings. Sayaka only followed behind her with a worried expression while hugging Kyuubey. She knew that she was the one who chose to stay behind and kept her eyes on the grief seed. But now she was unsure if she was brave enough to wander inside the barrier.

"W-wait miss Alice. We shouldn't wander off too far," Sayaka said.

"It's okay," Alice said with a smile. "After all, I'm quite curious about this witch that you three were talking about."

"Are you scared, Sayaka?" Kyuubey asked.

"Well, yeah... I'm definitely feeling scared right now," Sayaka replied as she looked around.

"If you make a wish right now, I can turn you into a magical girl," Kyuubey said.

"I will if there's an emergency but right now I can't do that. I don't want to make a haste wish since it's a very important decision for me," Sayaka said after she went quiet, thinking about what Kyuubey had just said. "I wanna try to take it seriously."

Alice started to get annoyed when Kyuubey repeated his suggestion on trying to get them to make a contract and become a magical girl. At the same time, she curved a small smile when she heard Sayaka's answer. In her mind, Sayaka had made a wise decision. As they went deeper inside the barrier, they could see few familiars that looked like a ball with one eye and a nurse lurking around. They stopped and stepped back as the familiars walked near them. But the familiars did not bother to attack them.

"Is that a witch?" Alice asked after the familiars disappeared from their sight.

"Nope, that's just a witch's familiars. Their duty is to protect the witch and the barrier," Sayaka replied.

"But they only ignored us," Alice said.

"Yeah, I'm also wondering about that," Sayaka said while scratching her head. "Usually it would attack us the moment we entered the barrier."

"As long as we don't make much noise, the familiars won't realize we're here," Kyuubey said.

"I see."

"Kyuubey, which way we should go?" Sayaka asked. Kyuubey showed them the direction that could lead them towards the witch. Since the barrier was full of mazes, Alice assumed that one could easily lose their way the moment they walked inside it. Since Kyuubey was with them, they did not have any problem walking through the mazes without making any mistakes. Soon they arrived inside a small room with a lot of holes on the wall.

"There, that's where the witch are," Kyuubey said, pointing his paw at one of the hole that looked like a small window with a grey steel grill. Alice and Sayaka looked inside it and saw something glowing faintly with white light.

"That's a witch? It's so small," Alice said.

"No, it's still in its egg form. It'll take time for it to hatch," Kyuubey said.

"I hope Mami and Madoka can make their way here before the witch hatches," Sayaka muttered. Alice only continued to look at the grief seed without saying anything. She then glanced at Sayaka who still had her worried expression. On the other hand, Sayaka was amazed when she saw Alice seemed to be relaxed ever since they were trapped inside the barrier.

"Umm... Miss Alice. Aren't you afraid of all this?" Sayaka finally asked.

"Frankly speaking, I'm a little bit scared," Alice replied. It was obvious that she had to lie to Sayaka so that Sayaka did not suspect anything at her. "But at the same time, I'm quite curious and excited."

"I know that feeling. We feel that someone with magical powers will come and save us or we will become a magical girl and defeat the witch," Sayaka said.

"Then make a contract with me," Kyuubey once again interrupted, trying to persuade Alice or Sayaka to become a magical girl.

"Geez, Kyuubey. You're so impatient," Sayaka said with a grin while pinching Kyuubey's cheek. Alice clenched her hands as she became more annoyed with Kyuubey's persistence and determination for the fourth time. She wished she could just blew him up and let him rot into ashes. But since Sayaka was there, she had to hold her eager to do such thing. Moreover she did not want Kyuubey to find out that she was able to use magic.

"Kyuubey, what's the situation?" Suddenly Alice heard a girl's voice inside her head. She assumed that the girl who was communicating telepathically with them was Mami.

"We're still okay. It's not going to hatch soon," Kyuubey replied.

"Are you okay, Sayaka?" Alice could hear another voice that she could recognize as Madoka.

"I'm okay," Sayaka replied with a small laugh. "Miss Alice is with me right now."

"Miss Alice?" Mami asked. Sayaka gestured her hand at Alice to try communicating telepathically.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Alice Margatroid," Alice introduced herself. "Just call me Alice."

"M-miss Alice!?" Madoka seemed surprised to hear Alice's voice. "I thought you've already left."

"I am, but I came back again because I'm worried about miss Sayaka," Alice said.

"Nice to meet you, miss Alice. I'm Tomoe Mami. Just call me Mami then," Mami said. "I'm afraid we'll introduce each other more later. Right now we'll have to deal with the witch."

"It's probable a bad idea to use strong magical power to stimulate the egg," Kyuubey said. "Can you come here without making much noise?"

"Yes, I will," Mami replied. "I want you three to stay at where you are."

"Okay," Sayaka said. Then she turned towards Alice after Mami stopped communicating with them. "I guess we'll wait until Mami and Madoka arrive here."

Alice only nodded without saying anything. She hoped that the one named Mami will arrive and destroy the witch's egg before it hatched, or else she had no choice but to use her magic to destroy it. She did not want Sayaka to be hurt by the witch if it hatches. The only problem was that her action will reveal her magic to Kyuubey. She let out a sigh as she tried to find something for her to sit. While Sayaka enthutiacally kept her eyes on the witch's egg with Kyuubey.

...

Mami and Madoka arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes after Alice, Sayaka and Kyuubey got absorbed into the witch's barrier. Mami hurriedly went to the hospital as soon as Madoka told her about nearly hatched witch's egg and Sayaka was there to keep an eye on it with Kyuubey. Madoka felt relieved that Mami was still at the school when she was searching for her. After Mami made sure that Sayaka, Kyuubey and Alice who she had not met were alright, the two of them immediately went inside the barrier.

"I'm glad we've made it in time," Madoka said.

"Honestly, I'm a bit angry at you two for doing something reckless," Mami said. "But at the same time, I'm glad that you've made the right move."

"We're sorry," Madoka said.

"That's okay. Now, we don't even have to worry about the witch getting away..." Mami trailed off as she glared at something with a serious look. Madoka looked at the direction where Mami's eyes seemed to concentrate at and let out a small gasp as she saw another figure walked slowly towards them from behind. She immediately recognized the person as Akemi Homura.

"Homura..." Madoka mumbled as she gazed Homura's eyes.

"I should've told you that I don't want to see you ever again," Mami said in a very serious tone. It seemed to Madoka that Mami was uncomfortable with Homura's presence.

"I'll hunt this one," Homura said. "You two should stay out of this."

"I don't think so. We have to get Sayaka and Kyuubey out of here," Mami said.

"I'll make sure that they're safe," Homura said.

"Do you think that I'll trust you just like that?" Mami asked as she quickly extended her left arm towards Homura. Yellow coloured light emitted from Mami's ring, making Homura stepped back while closing her eye as she tried to prepare for any attack. Suddenly a large red ribbons glowing in yellow light sprouted below Homura before it wrapped around all over her body, restricting her movement. The ribbon was tied to a flower shaped lock. Homura felt the ribbon was tight that she could barely move her body. But she did not try to break free from the ribbon as if she knew that her effort would be useless.

"Y-you fool! This isn't the time for this!" Homura scowled.

"I'm not trying to hurt you but I can't promise that you won't get hurt," Mami said.

"This witch is different from the previous witches that you've encountered," Homura said, trying to convince Mami to release her. "You have to let me destroy the witch."

"I'll release you after I defeated the witch. So be a good girl and stay there quietly," Mami said with a smile. Then she turned towards Madoka who was watching the scene in silence. "Let's go, Kaname."

"O-okay," Madoka stuttered. The two of them started walking, leaving Homura behind. Homura tried to say something towards them but the ribbon tightened as she moved her body, making her gasping for air. Madoka felt guilty for letting Homura tied just like that, but she had to follow Mami since she was under her care.

Mami and Madoka had to hide themselves from familiars that wandered around as they went deeper inside the witch's barrier, fearing that it would attract other familiars to attack them. They stopped at front of a door and immediately went inside it. Madoka and Mami then saw a corridor that was filled with countless bottles full of medicines and weird items.

"So is miss Alice your friend?" Mami asked after she made sure there were no familiars around.

"No, we just met her in the hospital. Sayaka said miss Alice got lost when she tried to find the exit," Madoka replied.

"That's unusual for someone to get lost," Mami said with a giggle. "But I guess she's a foreign since her name is quite unique."

"I also think she may become our ally," Madoka said while smiling.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Mami asked. She turned her head around and looked at Madoka with a curious look.

"Well... she could see Kyuubey," Madoka replied. Mami widened her eyes as she heard what Madoka had just said. She could not avoid herself from curving a big smile on her face. Madoka could see that Mami was happy when she heard there are new potential magical girl. "Even Kyuubey said that she had the potential to become magical girl."

"That's great!" Mami said in a happy tone.

"But miss Alice said that she did not had anything worth wishing for at the moment. So she may take some time to find out what wish that she want to make," Madoka said.

"I see," Mami said.

"Umm Mami, I've been thinking about my wish lately," Madoka said.

"So have you decided on what wish you want to make?" Mami asked.

"Yes, but I think you'll be angry because I feel my wish is too naive," Madoka replied.

"What wish do you want to come true?"

"I've never done well in any subjects and I've never had any talents. I'm pretty sure that I'd just be a hindrance and wouldn't be able to help people. I don't like this, but I couldn't do anything about it," Madoka said. Mami only listened to Madoka without saying anything as they went inside a door which led them to another corridor. Madoka took a few breaths before she continued to explain further about her wish. "But... you showed me how you fight to save people. You even told me that I can do the same thing like you did and I felt that was the most wonderful thing that I wanted to hear all this time. That's why I believe that all I need to do is to become a magical girl in order to fulfill my dream so that someone like me can become useful to someone else. I want to live being proud of myself of what I'm able to achieve by myself. That's my biggest dream."

"It won't be easy. You'll get injured and you won't even have any time for having fun," Mami said.

"But you still tried so hard despite those situations. So that's why you're my role model and dream," Madoka said with a smile. Mami suddenly stopped walking when she heard Madoka said something like that. Madoka started to become worried that Mami would scold at her for having such childish and silly thoughts.

"I'm not someone for you to use and refer as your role model," Mami said after she went silent for a few seconds. "I'm only pushing myself too hard by becoming a cool person. There's no one I can talk with when I'm afraid or having a hard time. All I can do is crying by myself. There's nothing good about becoming a magical girl when you think about it deeply."

"But you're not alone now, Mami," Madoka tried to comfort her. She somehow understood how Mami felt lonely all this time since she had to endure all the pain in engaging witches all by herself without anyone by her side to help her.

"I... guess you're right," Mami said. Madoka was surprised when Mami turned around and suddenly touched her hands. She could see Mami's tears started to swell as she gazed at her eyes. "Do you really intend to fight alongside me from now on? Will you be my side?"

"Yes, if someone like me can do that," Madoka said with a smile.

"Oh dear, you got me," Mami said with a smile as she wiped her tears. "I tried to act as your mentor. But it turned out to be something that I can't do. But... you'll only get this wishing opportunity once in a lifetime, so think carefully about your wish. A contract to become a magical girl still is a contract although you can obtain whatever you wanted and do whatever you want to do. You can become a billionaire or even get a cute boyfriend."

"W-well... O-okay," Madoka was a little bit loss for words when she heard that she could wish for a boyfriend. For a brief moment, she forgot what her wish was.

"Mami! The grief seed started to move!" Mami suddenly heard Kyuubey's voice. "It's gonna hatch soon! Please hurry!"

"Okay, I'll finish this in one go," Mami said in a very loud voice, attracting every witch's familiars around them. As she changed into her magical girl outfit, the environment inside the barrier suddenly changed into layers of strawberry cakes. After Mami put a ribbon defense barrier around Madoka, she leaped onto the lower floor while conjuring several muskets. Some of the familiars began to engage in fighting her but she managed to kill all of them, shooting and hitting them with her muskets.

Mami noticed that her fight at that moment was different from usual. Somehow she felt she could move more freely because the fear that had been enshrouding her mind all this time had disappear. It was as if the invisible chain that had binds her body and soul shattered instantly. Mami felt thankful to Madoka since it was her that she could feel rest assured and peaceful at that moment as she continued to fight swarms of familiars. Madoka also witnessed Mami fought more gracefully than she had seen before. The two of them continued to break through swarms of familiars until they arrived at front of a door with strange drawings. They immediately opened the door and went inside, leading them to a large room filled with different kind of pastries.

"Mami, we're right here," Mami heard Sayaka's voice and looked towards the direction where the voice came from. She saw Sayaka, Kyuubey and a blonde lady that she assumed as Alice hiding behind a large donut. Mami and Madoka quickly went and gathered with the three of them.

"We're sorry we're late," Mami said with a smile.

"It's okay," Sayaka replied with a grin. Then she gestured her hand at Alice. "Ah, this is Alice that I'm talking about earlier."

"We're sorry that you've got involved in this," Mami said as she bowed her head slightly towards Alice.

"It's okay. After all, the three of us are unhurt," Alice said with a smile. Alice looked at Mami as they met face to face. Mami was wearing a white shirt with yellow ribbom tied to its collar and a pair of detached sleeves. Her brown skirt matched with her boots perfectly. She also wore a beret with some feathers on the right side. Her soul gem took a shape that looked like a flower beautifully decorated her hair ornaments. Alice thought that Mami's magical outfit really matched her elegant appearance.

"Watch out! It's going to appear!" Kyuubey interrupted their conversation. All of them watched something glittering not far away from in front of them before the witch suddenly appeared, sitting on a chair. Alice carefully observed the witch's appearance that looked like a doll with candy-like head.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your tea time, but I'm afraid I'm going to defeat you," Mami said as she knocked the chair that the witch was sitting on. She then conjured a musket and smacked the witch onto the wall before it even reached the ground.

She conjured few more muskets and shot the witch three times. Since it did not show any resistance, Mami thought that it was the easiest witch that she had ever fought. As it dropped onto the floor, she conjured another two muskets and pulled one of the musket's trigger on the witch's head. Mami stepped back as dozens of yellow strings sprouted underneath the witch and hunged it above on the air.

"Yes! She got it!" Sayaka shouted in a cheerful and excited tone. Madoka also smiled as she saw Mami was winning against the witch. Meanwhile, Alice started to feel uneasy while watching the whole scene since the witch was defeated too easy.

"Tiro Finale!" Mami shouted as the musket that she held turned into gigantic cannon and shot it towards the witch. The bullet hit directly and pierced through the witch before a ribbon wrapped tightly around its body. All of them could see something that looked like a worm slowly emerged out of the witch's mouth. It had a black body with red polka dots and its face was similar to those of a clown that someone would find in a circus.

Mami only watched with a smile on her face as she noticed the new form of witch. The moment she thought that it was also harmless, the witch suddenly appeared few inches in front of her face within a second. Mami widened her eyes as she watched the witch slowly opened its mouth, revealing its sharp jaws. She could feel her heartbeat went faster as her body suddenly became weaker. She tried to move her body but failed. She felt her mind could not even react as it only played back all her memories that she had and imagining what would happen next when she looked at the witch's mouth. Madoka and Sayaka widened their eyes in shock as they witnessed Mami's head slowly went inside the witch's mouth.

Alice gritted her teeth in anger as she watched the witch approached Mami at a very fast pace. At that time she had to choose between two choices. One, she had to watch Mami being killed by the witch. Two, she had to use her magic, save Mami and reveal her true identity to Kyuubey. Suddenly, the witch shriek in pain as several homing round projectiles came out of nowhere and constantly hit and knocking it until it fell onto the floor. Before it could even move, countless knives appeared around the witch and stabbed all over its body. Madoka and Sayaka looked around and saw three figure approached the witch from the mid air.

"Miss Remilia! Miss Sakuya!" Madoka was surprised as she recognized instantly two of the three figures. While they curiously looked at the third person that they had not seen before. The girl wore a red gothic lolita style dress with black frills and yellow ribbon, a large red hat with plush rabbit head on either side of the hat, and black and red boots. She had a pair dark blue eyes and a long red hair tied into a braid. The girl was holding something that looked like a hammer or a polo mallet on her left hand.

"Miss Alice, are you all right?" Alice could hear Vita's voice in her head. It seemed to her that Vita could communicate telepathically as well.

"I'm fine, but I think the blonde girl you three just saved isn't," Alice replied. "How did you get here?"

"I was assisting miss Remilia in collecting some blood pack at the hospital when she said she could sense a witch's barrier nearby. We arrived here when the blonde girl was fighting the witch. So we just let the girl fought it until she was nearly killed."

"Is it safe for us to communicate using telepathy?" Alice asked.

"What do you mean?" Vita asked back.

"The creature in front of me is Kyuubey and he could communicate using telepathic ability as well," Alice replied.

"Dang! So we revealed ourselves to him," Vita said. "Don't worry. I'm using my magic to communicate with you. I don't think he'll be able to intercept and hear us."

"I see," Alice said. "So far only you three had reveal your magic to him. I've still kept my magic a secret. For now, let's act like we don't know each other and finish off the witch for us. Tell Remilia and Sakuya that for me."

"We can hear you, Alice," Remilia interrupted. "Vita used her communication magic on us."

Vita immediately engaged on fighting the witch with Sakuya. While Remilia slowly decended from the air and approaced Mami who was still standing still. Mami fell on the floor as she snapped back into reality and surprised to see Remilia's face few inches from her.

"My, my, Tomoe Mami. What's wrong?" Remilia asked with a grin. "You seemed to be afraid to attack the witch. Let us deal with it while you're cowering here then."

Madoka and Sayaka were amazed by the strength that Remilia showed as she only used her fists to punch the witch. The witch tried to bite and swallowed Remilia but failed as she was too fast for it to catch. Then it turned at Sakuya who flew near it and tried the same thing that it did to Remilia. But Sakuya kept disappearing from its sight before reappeared again at other area. It continued to trailed to wherever Sakuya went before Sakuya finally threw a knife towards it. The single knife suddenly multiplied into countless knives and hit all over the witch's body. The witch was busy dealing with Remilia and Sakuya that it did not noticed Vita was flying above it.

"Graf Eisen! Raketen Form!" Vita ordered. Magic circle formed underneath her before Graf Eisen ejected a cartridge and changed its form into something that looked like a rocket propeller. Vita then accelerated towards the witch as the propeller on her hammer boosted up and smacked it on the witch's body.

"Amazing," Madoka said. "Even the girl in red is really strong."

"Yeah, she swung her hammer like it was nothing," Sayaka said. Kyuubey only observed Remilia, Sakuya and Vita as they kept engaging with the witch. Since the witch's effort to kill the three of them proved futile, the witch turned its attention back towards Mami who was still sitting on the floor without moving to a safe place.

"Don't think about it!" Remilia shouted with a grin as she rushed towards the witch and punched hard on the witch's face, causing it to waver in dizziness. Vita and Sakuya continued with their attacks before it could even regain its balance. Soon, the witch finally admitted its defeat as it lay still on the floor without moving anymore. It slowly closed its eyes as its body dissolved into the thin air. The witch's barrier began to crumble before the environment around all of them changed back into the bicycle parking lot at the hospital. All of them sigh in relief as the fight was finally over. Mami gazed at Remilia who approached her as she changed back her magical outfit into her school uniform.

"Tomoe Mami, you really disappointed me," Remilia said with a smirk. "When I first met you, Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka, I thought you're a strong and brave girl. But now all I see is a helpless and naive little girl who doesn't know anything until death comes around. I think you rather stay at home and do something like other normal girls do since you're incapable of preparing for the worst."

"I agree," Vita said after Remilia finished her sentence. "Being able to use magic isn't for fame or to become a hero. It's about responsibility."

Mami was taken aback with Remilia and Vita's remark. As much as she wanted to argue, she could not deny the fact that she was nearly killed by the witch. In her mind, she would be at fault if anything happens to Madoka, Sayaka and Alice if it were not for Remilia, Sakuya and Vita that came and saved them. Madoka covered her mouth with her hand as she was shocked that Remilia and Vita said something harsh to Mami after what she had just experienced earlier. Sayaka clenched her hand as she tried to suppress her anger towards Remilia and Vita. She wanted to help Mami from being insulted by the two of them, but she did not have the courage to do so. Suddenly Sayaka saw Alice stood up and walked before she stood in front of Mami, facing Remilia, Vita and Sakuya.

"If you have nothing to say besides insulting her, then leave!" Alice said in a serious tone. Remilia only stared at her before she understood what she meant by that.

"Fine, we'll leave," Remilia said before she turned around and walked away, followed by Sakuya. Vita looked at Alice before she also left the hospital.

"Madoka, who were they?" Kyuubey finally spoke after he went silent after he observed Remilia and the other two.

"Ermm..." Madoka tried to find a way to explain to Kyuubey. She had a hard time to tell a lie since she was not the type to do such thing to people. She could not tell the truth about Remilia and Sakuya either since they had been warned by them before. While she did not even know anything about Vita because it was the first time she saw her.

"They're magical girls," Sayaka was the one who answered Kyuubey's question. "The one with bat wings is Remilia and the one in maid outfit is Sakuya. I don't know about the girl with the hammer since we never met her before."

"It's strange that I can't recall of them making a contract with me," Kyuubey replied. "Just like Homura whom also I didn't remember making a contract with."

"So they're... just like Homura?" Sayaka asked.

"It seems so."

"Are you all right, miss Mami?" Alice asked as she helped Mami standing up.

"I'm okay," Mami said with a smile. Her body struggled as she tried to stand up, as if she did not have any energy left to do so. Mami then took her school bag and slowly walked away. Madoka looked at her with a concerned expression.

"Mami," Madoka muttered as she tried to follow her from behind.

"I'm sorry, Madoka. I just remember I had something to do," Mami said as she turned around, looking at Madoka before she started walking again. Madoka was worried about Mami but she felt that what Mami had just said indicates that she wanted them to leave her alone for a while. All of them looked at Mami as she left them when Madoka noticed something and began to look around. Suddenly Homura appeared in front of Madoka, Sayaka, Kyuubey and Alice, suprising them all.

"Homura," Sayaka growled.

"I hope you two learn from this battle," Homura said. "Nothing good comes when someone become a magical girl. Tomoe Mami was lucky that she didn't get killed by the witch. I warn you two again. Don't become a magical girl if you value your life."

After having said that, Homura immediately walked away and left the hospital.

"You can't decide for other people!" Sayaka shouted, although she knew that Homura would not even listen to her.

"I think I'll also leave for now," Alice said as she bowed towards Madoka and Sayaka. The two of them did not have the chance to talk to Alice as she quickly left them behind. As soon as she left the hospital, she immediately went into a shop. After she made sure that no one followed her, she tried to contact Vita through her cell phone. She could hear there was few ringing sound before she heard Vita's voice.

"Miss Alice, is something wrong?" Vita asked.

"Can you do me a favor?" Alice requested.

...

It was already night time when Mami arrived at her apartment. She immediately slumped her tired body on a sofa as soon as she closed the door, staring blankly at the ceiling while her mind recalled back everything that Remilia and Vita had just said. No matter how hard she tried to shrug it off from her head, all those words kept lingering inside her mind.

**Ding! Dong!**

Suddenly she heard her apartment's door bell rung. She got up from the sofa and immediately went towards the door, while wondering if it was Madoka and Sayaka who came to see her. Mami widened her eyes as she opened the door and saw Alice stood in front of her. She glanced down and saw Alice was holding two plastic bags on her right hand. One of it was full of cooking ingredients. The other one was full of fabrics and textiles. Mami thought that Alice seemed came to her apartment after buying some grocery. While her left hand was holding a large and thick book on her chest.

"Miss Alice!?" Mami said in a surprised tone.

"Good evening, miss Mami," Alice greeted as she bowed slightly towards Mami.

"Good evening," Mami returned the greet. "How did you know I live here!?"

"Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka told me," Alice replied. The truth was that Alice had asked Vita to follow Mami to her apartment.

"I see. Is... there something I can do for you?"

"Can we speak for a moment?" Alice asked.

"Sure, come in," Mami said with a smile. "Make yourself at home while I prepare some tea."

Since Alice was the type who kept everything clean, she had a high respect for Mami as she saw her apartment was nice, clean and tidy. The apartment was spacious with little furniture decorating the living room. There was a small corridor to her right which she assumed it leads to other rooms. She could smell sweet fragrance filled the air the moment she sat on the floor in front of a table, which made her more comfortable. Somehow she felt that she missed her house back in Gensokyo although she had just been at the outside world for about five days. As soon as Mami finished making some tea and put it on the table, she sat on the floor facing directly at Alice.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Mami asked. She suddenly remembered that Madoka mentioned about Alice had the potential to become a magical girl. She then clasped her hand and continued asking, "Is it possible that you want to become a magical girl?"

"Sadly, that's not the reason I'm here," Alice replied. She could see sadness in Mami's eyes although she was smiling. Alice continued to explain her purpose on meeting Mami further as she bowed slightly towards her, "I'm here because I want to apologize to you."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mami asked as she tilted her head. That was not something that she would expect to hear from Alice. "Why did you apologize? You didn't do anything wrong."

"I apologize on behalf of Remilia and Vita for saying something harsh to you," Alice said.

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize for someone you don't know. It's not your fault that they had to help me and said such things after that," Mami said. While she knew Remilia and Sakuya, she guessed that name Vita referred to the girl in red. Alice could saw Mami's hand that were holding the teacup trembling slightly as she continued speaking "What miss Remilia and miss Vita had said were right. I should've live a normal life rather than becoming a magical girl if I hadn't made a contract with Kyuubey to help defeat witches. As an experienced magical girl, I knew that fighting witches could be dangerous. But I was so caught up on trying so hard to impress Madoka and Sayaka that I forgot about all that. Now I've survived from death twice."

"Twice?" Alice asked.

"Before, my parents and I had a car accident. Then Kyuubey came and helped me, so I survived from the accident. Now, I survived because miss Remilia, miss Sakuya and miss Vita saved me from being killed by the witch. Not only I endangered myself, I had also endangered Madoka and Sayaka because of my naïve and careless mistake. I'm not qualified to be a mentor or even a magical girl. I'm really useless and helpless," Mami said without pausing. She did not realize her body started to tremble until Alice touched her left hand firmly. Mami looked at Alice who now was sitting beside her.

"Miss Mami, I disagree on what you, Remilia and miss Vita had just said," Alice said with a smile. "You're not someone useless just because you were careless, trying to impress someone and ended up made a mistake. I believe that you're a great magical girl who saved many lives before."

Mami could not suppress her feelings anymore when her tears flowed heavily down her cheeks. She instantly buried her face on Alice's chest as she let out a loud cry, making Alice startled by her action. Alice then patted Mami's head slowly as she looked at her. She felt sorry for her because she took the responsibility and burden as a magical girl without knowing anything.

"I... I'm afraid..." Mami said as she continued to sob and snort. "I... I thought... I was going to die... My mind kept playing all my memories as I watched the witch opened it's mouth... I was helpless... I can't even move my body to dodge the witch... I thought I was going to die."

"Shh, it's over now and you're still alive," Alice said in a soft tone. "I've watched you fighting the witch and you did great."

"But I... I..." Mami tried to say something, but she was interrupted by Alice.

"Mistakes and failures is a process to achieve something even greater," Alice said. "I guess that you're angry and frustrated at yourself because you felt that you failed at everything, including in protecting Madoka and Sayaka. But if you try to learn from your mistakes, I'm sure you'll become a greater magical girl."

Alice embraced Mami as she continued to cry. She did not care her clothes became wet by Mami's tears. She felt relieved that Mami was able to let out her emotions without holding back. After a while, Mami rose her hear from Alice's chest when the sound of her cry slowly faded, wiping her tears away. She tried to curve a small smile at Alice although she was still sobbing.

"I'm sorry that you had to see my behavior," Mami said as she felt embarrassed by her behavior.

"That's okay. Emotion is an important part of being a human. If you tried to hide or throw away your emotions, you will be a lifeless doll."

"Please keep this as a secret from Madoka and Sayaka. They'll think that I'm not cool anymore if they found out about this," Mami requested.

"I promise I'll keep this matter as a secret," Alice said with a smile. Then she took out a grief seed from her pocket and gave it to Mami. "You forgot to take this earlier. You might need to use it to cleanse you soul gem."

"Eh? How did you know about soul gem and grief seeds?" Mami tried to ask. She remembered that she did not mention anything about soul gem and grief seeds.

"Madoka told me about it," Alice said, telling another lie. Then she put a finger on her mouth, indicating that she did not want Mami to ask more questions for the time being. Mami took the grief seed and took out her soul gem. She suddenly let out a gasp and widened her eyes as she stared at the soul gem.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked.

"My soul gem is really tainted," Mami replied. Alice looked at Mami's soul gem and saw half of the soul gem had darkened.

"Maybe because you used it on earlier battle," Alice said.

"But it's impossible to be this tainted from just only one battle."

"I see. You'd better cleanse it right now," Alice said. The grief seed slowly absorbed the taint on Mami's soul gem as she put near it. After she let go of her embrace, Alice immediately stood up and started walking towards the kitchen.

"M-miss Alice, where are you going?" Mami asked.

"I'm going to cook dinner for us if you don't mind," Alice replied.

"Y-you don't have to. You've done so much for me by being a good listener," Mami said.

"It's alright. After all, I bought these ingredients for me to cook something for you," Alice said.

"But what about your family?"

"They're going to be fine. Don't worry about them too much," Alice said as she refered Reimu and the others as 'family'. "I'm the one who should apologize since I'm going to use your kitchen without your consent."

"No, it's alright," Mami said as she got up. "I'm the one who should apologize because you're too concerned about me."

"That's okay."

"Then... I'll help you preparing dinner."

"Thank you," Alice said with a smile. Alice felt a little bit relieved to see Mami was able to smile like she saw her the first time they met. As soon as they finished preparing their dinner, they immediately sat around the table and enjoying their food. After they finished their dinner and cleaning up the dishes, Alice sat on the sofa for a while with Mami. Alice only kept silent as Mami did not say anything much to her ever since they went into the kitchen.

"I think I'll be leaving now. I don't want to disturb you too much," Alice said as she shuffled her body, getting ready to get up from the sofa.

"W-wait," Mami immediately tugged Alice's clothes.

"Yes?" Alice asked as looked at Mami. Mami took a few deep breaths, opening and closing her mouth a few times as she hesitated to say anything that was on her mind. The two of them went silent for a few second as Alice was waiting for Mami to speak.

"U-umm, miss Alice. Can you stay overnight here?" Mami finally gathered the courage to ask Alice.

"Well if you want me to stay overnight, sure," Alice replied. Mami was joyful to hear Alice's answer. She immediately prepares a hot water for Alice to have a bath. After they finished taking their bath in turn, Mami provided Alice a pajama for her to wear.

"I'll be fine sleeping on the sofa," Alice said as she walked towards the sofa. Once again, Mami tugged Alice clothes. Alice turned and looked at Mami, waiting for her to say anything that was in her mind again.

"U-um... I-if you don't mind... C-can you sleep with me on my bed?" Mami stuttered as she asked. She immediately looked down at the floor, trying to hide her embarassed expression.

"Wha-!?" Alice seemed surprised by Mami's request. "Why do you want me to sleep with you?"

"You reminded me of my mother," Mami replied. She rose up her head and saw Alice blushed before she continued to say her random thoughts out loud. "I mean... It's not that you you're old and looked like my mother or anything. It's just that you were too kind to me and I'm really comfortable with it... Oh my, what am I saying!? I'm really sorry."

"Alright then, I'll sleep with you if it can make you feel happy," Alice said as she patted Mami's head. She had a hard time to utter her reply since that was the first time someone asked her to sleep together. Instead of feeling annoyed by the way Alice treated her, Mami felt happy and comfortable with it. They immediately went up the ladder and lay on the bed together as soon as Mami turned off the light. Thirty minutes had passed and Alice was still wide awake. She looked at a small clock near her and saw it was still 10 PM. On the other hand, Mami had already gone to sleep. After Alice looked at Mami who had slumbered peacefully for a while, she quietly crept out from the bed and went down the ladder.

...

**At Oriko's Mansion (10 PM):**

"I've received an email from Alice," Marisa said while waving her cell phone as she entered the living room. All residents in Oriko's mansion still had not gone to sleep since they were discussing about hunting witches. Nanoha, Fate and Arf also present at the mansion at that time. "She said she will be staying with a girl named Tomoe Mami. So she might be with the girl for a while."

"I see," Remilia said with a smile. "She's too kind to help the poor girl."

"So were you," Reimu said, narrowing her eyes as she gave a big grin at Remilia. "It's so unlikely for you to help humans."

"It's not that I felt pity for her," Remilia snorted. "I don't want her to die yet."

"You do felt pity on her, or else you'll just let her be killed," Reimu said. Remilia only looked at her with annoyance. Nanoha and the other only kept silence as they listened to Reimu and Remilia's conversation.

"Put that aside, now we must focus on Kyuubey," Patchouli said. "Since he had seen Remi, Sakuya and miss Vita, I don't think we'll be able to hide ourselves anymore."

"So what should we do now?" Nanoha asked.

"I think that we can only keep our purpose on coming to this city a secret since we can't completely conceal our magic and our presence," Patchouli said. "If Kyuubey or any magical girls knows our objectives, they may be a hindrance to us."

"I think I'll agree with that," Fate said.

"That means we have to lie everything about ourselves," Marisa said.

"That's something that you're good at," Patchouli said.

...

It was about 3 AM when Mami woke up from her sleep. She immediately got up as she noticed that Alice was not beside her. As she went outside her bedroom, she could see Alice was sitting on the sofa with mall table lamp that brightened up the living room. Mami was curious as she saw something that looked like a doll seemed floating beside Alice. She slowly went down the ladder without making any noise. But her effort to make such action failed as Alice suddenly turned around and gasped when she saw Mami was behind her.

"Oh my, you're awake," Alice said in a uneasy tone. Mami widened her eyes when she carefully observed the floating doll and saw it moved its head.

"Miss Alice, what're you doing? And how did that doll moving and floating on the air?" Mami asked before her mind clicked with on only possible answer. "Don't tell me that you're..."

"I'm making some dolls. As for your second question, my doll was able to move and float because I'm the one who manipulated it. If you had a thought that I can use magic, then you're correct. Although I'm not what you refer to as magical girl because I'm only a magician," Alice replied.

"So that's why you knew about grief seeds and soul gem," Mami said. "So does that mean you're just like miss Remilia and miss Sakuya? Does that mean you know them?"

"Yes, I'm just like Remilia and Sakuya. I do know them since I'm currently living with them, including Vita," Alice replied. Then she stood up and bowed towards Mami. "I'm sorry for keeping this a secret because I've made a promise not to show it to anyone. I'm sorry that I was hesitated to use my magic to save you."

"I-it's okay. You had your reason for not using your magic," Mami said.

"Since you already know about my secret, I suppose I will help you on your witch hunt from now on."

"Really?" Mami seemed happy to hear what Alice had just said.

"Yes. But promise me that you won't tell about me and my magic to Kyuubey or anyone," Alice said.

"But how about Madoka and Sayaka?" Mami asked. "They'll most likely tagged along when I'm hunting witches, and Kyuubey always around them too."

"I see," Alice said. "I guess there's no point hiding my magic from them then. I'll see what I can do about it while you will pretend that you don't know anything."

"Okay."

"There's one more thing," Alice said. "Promise me that you will stay strong physically, mentally and spiritually from now on because there may be a lot of things that are unexpected will happen. Don't let what you've experienced earlier during your fight with the witch becomes your hinderance to grow strong."

"I'll... try... to keep all that promises," Mami said. Although she was hesitated, but in her mind she will try her best to not disappoint Alice's expectation and trust that she had put on her.

"If you don't keep your promise, then I'll tell miss Madoka and miss Sayaka that you cried," Alice said with a grin.

"I promise that I will stay strong? Please don't tell them that I cried," Mami said in a panic voice, making Alice giggle as she looked at her.

"Alright then. Since I'm making some dolls right now, would you like me to make a doll version of you?"

"You can do that?" Mami asked.

"Yes," Alice replied.

"Then, please do," Mami said with a smile. She was amazed as she watched Alice took out few raw clothing materials from the plastic bag and started making a doll version of her from the scratch with full interest. In her mind, she was wondering why she did not feel angry or upset towards Alice. Instead Mami felt grateful and happy that she met her, hoping that she would be able to learn something from Alice.

...

**At Arthra:**

"Amy, have they done with their analysis on the data that Nanoha sent before?" Lindy asked as she took a sip of her tea.

"No, they mentioned that they need one or two more data of the witches since they need more concrete proof of it," Amy replied.

"I see," Lindy said. "Just send them the data that we've already analyzed and I'll request them to aquire more data."

* * *

**Side story:**

Homura tried hard to break free from Mami's ribbon. But the ribbon tightened itself as she tried to move. She growled in frustration as her effort failed. Her mind thought everything that could happen to her or Madoka.

"Oh my, Akemi Homura. What a coincidence," Suddenly Homura could hear a voice behind her. She could not see who was behind her until the person walked in front of her. "Why are you tied here? Is it because you're a bad girl?"

"Miss Remilia! Miss Sakuya!" Homura looked at two of three figures. While she curiously looked at Vita since that was the first time she saw her. She assumed that Vita was the friend that Remilia mentioned before. "What're you doing here?"

"We're just visiting the hospital to obtain some blood pack. Then I sensed a magical energy around and here I am inside the witch's barrier," Remilia said before she turned and started to walk away. "I'll be going and defeat the witch now while you're staying there."

Homura only looked at Remilia disappeared out from her sight. She wanted to ask for Remilia's help, but it seemed that Remilia was not willing to help her at all. She had no other choice but to stay still while being tied with the ribbon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The New Me**

**Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!**

An alarm from the table clock rung as its hand struck at seven. Mami groaned as she rubbed her eyes while extending her other arm, trying to turn off the alarm before she slowly got up and stretched her body. She put down the window's curtain to let the morning sunlight brightened the room. As she got outside the room, she could smell sweet aroma of foods and tea. She blinked her eyes for a moment before she remembered that Alice was staying at her apartment. Mami quickly went towards the kitchen just to see Alice had already finished preparing and putting the dishes on the table at the living room. Mami widened her eyes in amazement as she saw several dolls were floating around, helping Alice carrying the dishes to the living room. The movement of the dolls was so smooth that it made Mami felt the dolls were really alive.

"Good morning," Alice greeted with a smile. "Breakfast is ready."

"Miss Alice, why did you need to trouble yourself to prepare breakfast for us?" Mami asked in a concerned voice.

"It's alright. After all, you let me stay in your apartment. This is the only thing that I can do for now to show my gratitude," Alice replied. "You have to go to school today right? Then you'd better get ready."

"O-okay," Mami said. After Mami cleaned herself and wore her school uniform, she went the living room and sat on the sofa in with Alice. Mami was entranced to see freshly cooked rice, soup and omelet.

"I apologize that I only cook simple dishes because I don't know your favorite food," Alice said.

"It's fine, really. In fact, I appreciate your cooking. I'm really happy with it," Mami said.

"Let's have our breakfast then. You don't want to be late for school right?" Alice asked. Mami only nodded in response. That morning was the first time she had some breakfast with someone in a long time. She felt nostalgic as she recalled back her memories of when her parents were still alive.

"By the way, are you ready for today's witch hunt?" Alice asked.

"I think I am," Mami replied hastily.

"Don't think too much about what happened yesterday at the hospital," Alice said. "Whether it be Remilia and miss Vita's criticism or about the witch. I know you're still dealing with your bad experience about it and couldn't shrug it off. But you must overcome it or else you'll end up in fear and grief."

"I-I'll try to overcome the problem. I'm sorry that you're concerned about me," Mami said. After they finished their meal, several dolls came to pick up the empty plates and teacups and carried it to the kitchen. Mami could hear the sound of running water from the tap, indicating that the dolls immediately washed and cleaned all the dishes.

'Miss Alice, have you been able to control all these dolls?" Mami asked as she gazed at the doll hovering near her.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Alice replied.

"It's nothing. I just think that you had a wonderful ability," Mami said.

"Thank you."

"I'd better get going now," Mami said.

"Have a nice day," Alice said as she waved at Mami. Mami only smiled and waved at Alice in response as she went towards the front door. After she put on her shoes, she immediately went outside and slowly closed the door.

"Now then, I guess I'm going now," Alice muttered after she took a few minutes to make sure all the room was clean and tidy. Since Mami's room apartment was on the upper level, Alice had to use an elevator to descend to the ground floor. As Alice went outside the elevator, she could see a girl standing near the gate. The girl had a long gray hair tied into a side ponytail. She wore an elegant black dress matching with her shoes. Her green eyes stared at the empty streets without blinking before she noticed Alice who was walking towards her.

"Oriko," Alice called the girl.

"Good morning, miss Alice," Oriko said as she bowed slightly towards Alice. "Shall we go?"

"Yes."

Since Alice was not yet familiar with the city, she had to call Oriko to help guiding her to the mansion. Alice let out a small sigh as flying through the sky was out of option because it would attract people's attention, especially since magic was uncommon on the world outside Gensokyo. She did not want to the teleportation spell as she wanted to look around the city. Since Oriko's mansion was quite far away, they had to take a bus that could take them to the bus station that was nearest to the mansion. As the two of them passed the mansion's gate, Alice could see the garden that was once beautifully decorated was now full of craters. Alice could not help but to wonder who was in charge in training Oriko that resulted in such scenery.

"I can see you're training really hard," Alice said as she pointed her finger at the garden.

"Y-yeah," Oriko said. "This morning, miss Signum was in charge of training me."

"So how was it?"

"It was really hard since I've asked her to not go too easy on me. But I've been able to conjure more spheres now."

"That's great," Alice said, curving a small smile. "But the sad thing is that your beautiful garden is ruined."

"Don't worry, miss Signum said that they can fix it later with their magic," Oriko said. "Though I prefer to let it this way as a momento."

"Oh," Alice said. She could not help but to wonder why Oriko wanted her ruined garden to be a momento.

"We're back," Oriko said as they entered the mansion.

"Welcome back," Shamal who emerged out from the living room greeted back, followed by Reimu,

"Ah Alice, you're back," Reimu said. "So how's your stay with miss Tomoe Mami that you've met?"

"Well, she found out my magic. But I didn't told her anything about Gensokyo or anything related," Alice replied. "I told her to keep my identity a secret though."

"I see," Reimu said. "We've already discussed that matter last night and we've agreed that we should keep our purpose on coming here as a secret if we couldn't conceal our magic if there's an emergency in which we had to use it."

"So does it mean we have to lie about everything?"

"Yes. Including about ourselves and where we came from."

"But the problem is miss Mami had already knew that I'm not a magical girl because I've accidentally told her," Alice said. Reimu scratched her head as she suddenly had a headache. All the plan that they created had unexpectedly failed one by one. Reimu started to get annoyed when she heard what Alice had just said. But she guessed she could not blame Alice because her pride as a magician would not let her being called a magical girl.

"Argh! Do anything you can to keep everything that you think important a secret then," Reimu said in frustration.

"What about Kyuubey? Did you meet him?" Shamal asked.

"Yes," Alice replied. "According to two persons named Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka, it seems that only the one who had the potential to become a magical girl can see him. Since I was able to see him, he offered me to make a wish and in exchange I have to become a magical girl. That only thing so far was that he didn't explain anything furthermore."

"So the two of them are also magical girls?" Reimu asked.

"So far only miss Mami was the only one who had become a magical girl. Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka still haven't decide whether they want to become a magical girl or not."

"I see," Reimu muttered as she put her left hand under her chin. "Then for now I suppose you'll keep an eye on the three of them and prevent miss Kaname Madoka and miss Miki Sayaka from making a contract with Kyuubey."

"Yes," Alice said.

"Pardon me for asking, but why do we have to prevent someone from becoming a magical girl?" Shamal asked.

"Like we've discussed before, Kyuubey in an untrustworthy being for some reason and we need to confirm that," Reimu replied.

"By the way, where's Patchouli?" Alice quickly asked, interrupting the conversation so that Shamal did not ask any more questions.

"She's in the study room," Shamal replied. "Do you want me to call her?"

"No, I'll go to the study room then," Alice said. She took off her boots and immediately headed towards the study room. Inside, Alice could see more books floating around than before. There were also a lot of books stacking on the table. She noticed that there was a mob cap moving behind the mountains of books. Alice immediately went towards it and saw Patcthouli was intensely reading a book.

"Patchouli," Alice called in a low voice so that Patchouli would not startled by her 'sudden' appearance. Patchouli took notice and lifted her head, looking at Alice.

"Ah, you're back," Patchouli said. "Is there something you want from me?"

"I want to ask you something about the soul gem," Alice said. "Is it possible that the soul gem will be tainted intensely from just one simple fight?"

"From what I've recorded in my research notes up until now, there's no possibility of it to occur," Patchouli replied. "Why do you ask?"

"When I met and gave miss Mami a grief seed after our encounter with a witch, she was surprised to see there's a lot of taint on her soul gem. I assumed that the taint was the result from her fight earlier, but she said that it's impossible for the soul gem to taint that much," Alice explained.

"I see," Patchouli said as she put her hands under her chin before she remembered something. "I remembered that Oriko also had the same experience with her soul gem yesterday. She and Marisa told me that she only used her barrier during her fight with miss Kyoko when she went on a shopping with Reimu, miss Hayate and Shamal. After they came back, Oriko immediately went to her room. Marisa told me that Oriko was sad after her encounter with Kyoko before she noticed Oriko's soul gem was getting more tainted."

Alice only listened to Patchouli's explanation before she noticed something.

"Miss Mami also was in similar experience with Oriko," Alice said.

"What do you mean?" Patchouli asked in a very interested tone.

"During her fight with a witch yesterday, she was nearly got killed by it. But Remilia, Sakuya and miss Vita saved her and they criticize her when the fight was over. When I've visited her place and consulted her, she started to cry since she was feeling down. Then I gave her the grief seed for her to use. That's when she noticed the large amount of taint on her soul gem," Alice said.

"I see," Patchouli said after she finished writing everything that Alice had just said. "I can see the similarity between the two situations is that the soul gem became more tainted when they became sad or depressed. I'll try to look into this matter further."

"I'll be counting on you then. I'm gonna take some rest before I'm going back to miss Mami's apartment," Alice said before she turned around and left the study room. Patchouli reviewed at the notes that she just wrote and compared it to other notes about soul gems, grief seeds and witches before she closed her eyes, going into her deep thoughts as she tried to synthesize all the information together.

...

"It's really sunny today," Sayaka said as she gazed the clear blue sky.

"Yeah," Madoka said. Both of them were at the school rooftop, having their lunch together. While their were focusing on the classes that they will be having after lunch time, their mind sometimes lingering on what they had witnessed and experienced at the hospital yesterday.

"Say, Madoka... Do you still intend to make a contract with Kyuubey in exchange for your wish?" Sayaka asked.

"Why do you ask?" Madoka asked back.

"Well... you know that we saw something horrible that was going to happen yesterday... I thought that maybe we had a change of heart."

"I don't know," Madoka replied. "I'm still hesitant to choose whether I should make a wish or not. Even if I do want to make a wish, I'm still not very clear myself of what my wish truly are."

"I wonder if Mami was all right," Sayaka said as she chewed her bread.

"Yeah, we haven't seen her today. Not to mention that we didn't manage to visit her yesterday," Madoka said. Suddenly a pair hands closed Madoka's eyes before the owner of the hands let it go.

"Mami!" both Madoka and Sayaka were surprised as they turned around and saw Mami stood behind them.

"Hello," Mami greeted with a smile. "How are you two today?"

"We're fine," Sayaka replied. "Ummm... Mami... How about you? I mean..."

"I'm fine," Mami said. "I'm really sorry for making you worry about me because I left you two in a rush."

"We don't want to disturb you after what had happened," Madoka said. "We're sorry that we weren't been able to help you. It's our fault that you're almost..."

"It's okay," Mami interrupted. "I was the one at fault for involving you two in the first place and making you witnessing something horrible."

"Man, I really hate miss Remilia and that girl in red. They shouldn't say something harsh just like that as if you didn't do anything good all this time," Sayaka said in an angry tone.

"Let's not talk about this matter for now. Let's have our lunch and talk about it later," Mami said, trying to divert the whole conversation. Madoka and Sayaka only nodded. Although Madoka still felt uncomfortable after what had happened yesterday, but seeing Mami's smiling face at that time while they were talking about random things made her felt a little bit relieved.

"Umm, Mami... Can we visit you today after school?" Madoka asked. Mami stiffened as she heard Madoka's question before she quickly loosen back her body. She had made a promise with Alice to keep Alice's identity a secret. She thought that if Madoka and Sayaka visit her apartment, then they will saw Alice's magic. But Alice had also said that she will do something about it if Madoka, Sayaka or Kyuubey found out about her. But if she prevent them from coming to the apartment, she guessed that they will think that she was trying to avoid them. Mami had a headache while trying to make a choice between letting Madoka and Sayaka visit her or not.

"S-sure, y-you can come after school," Mami stuttered as she finally replied to Madoka's question.

"Ah, our class is going to start soon," Sayaka said as she heard the school bell had rung.

"We'll be going now," Madoka said as she stood up. "We'll see you after school, Mami."

"I'll see you two later then," Mami said with a smile. She watched Madoka and Sayaka left the rooftop before she let out a small sigh, wondering what will happen afterwards. She knew that Alice said it will going to be fine if someone found out the truth, but she still could not help and avoid herself from feeling anxious about it. She slowly packed up her lunch box and immediately left the rooftop.

...

All the students rushed to leave their classroom as soon as they heard the bell rung; indicating that school time was over. Each of them had different plans in their mind of what they wanted to do after school. Some of the students were involved in various club and school activities. While most students were looking forward to use their free time to go out with their friends, doing anything that they found interesting.

Mami let out a sigh when she looked at all her friends. She felt envy at them for having a lot of free time to do anything that they like. If it were not for the contract that she made with Kyuubey, she would also be able to join her friends, laughing and chatting around. All this time she felt really empty despite her 'happy' and smiling expression that she always showed towards everyone around her. But after she met Madoka, Sayaka and Alice, she could feel a little bit joyful and blessed in her heart. After Mami made sure she packed up all her belongings, she immediately left her classroom.

"Mami," Madoka called as soon as she saw Mami walked out of the school building. She and Sayaka were waiting for Mami near the front door so that Mami could see them clearly.

"I'm sorry for making you wait for me," Mami said with a smile. "Shall we go then?"

"Yup," Madoka said with a nod. The three of them started walking past the school gate before Sayaka suddenly stopped. Madoka and Mami looked at her for a second. "Sayaka, what's wrong?"

"Ah, I just remember that I had something that I want to do. I think I'll join you up after that," Sayaka said.

"Are you going to see Kamijou?" Madoka asked.

"Well, something like that," Sayaka grinned. "I'll see you later."

"Okay, we'll see you later," Madoka said. Madoka and Mami waved at Sayaka who walked away from them before they started walking. It took less than half an hour for them to arrive at the front of the building. As they went up using an elevator, Mami could feel her heart gradually beating faster. She started to feel nervous as she took each step towards her room apartment. She could not imagine how Madoka would react if she saw Alice's magic.

"We're here," Madoka said in a cheerful voice. It seemed that she was excited for whatever reason she had in her mind.

"C-come in," Mami was a little bit stuttered as she twisted the door knob.

"Mami, why aren't your door locked?" Madoka asked as she saw Mami did not use a key to unlock her apartment's door.

"Someone's currently living with me," Mami replied.

"Really? Who?" Madoka asked.

"M-miss Alice," Mami answered. The door was unlocked meant that Alice was at home. Mami was getting more nervous the moment she opened the door. As they went inside, Madoka's eyes glittered when she saw two dolls floating around at the living room, carrying a teapot and a teacup. Alice was sitting on the floor while kintting something before her eyes fixed at Mami and Madoka. She guessed that it was really hard to keep her magic a secret.

"We're home," Mami greeted.

"Ah, welcome home miss Mami," Alice greeted back. "I didn't know miss Madoka will be visiting."

"Yes, Madoka wanted to visit me today," Mami replied.

"Wow, I didn't know that you were able to control dolls, Mami," Madoka said in an excited voice as she and Mami sat on the floor opposite of Alice.

"Ermm... Actually, the dolls belongs to miss Alice," Mami said. Madoka widened her eyes as she looked at Alice.

"So does that mean you had make a contract with Kyuubey?" Madoka asked Alice. Alice looked at Mami, assuming that she still had not revealed anything to Madoka.

"That's a secret," Alice replid with a smile. That was the possible answer that she could think of instead of lying. At some point she felt guilty that she had to avoid from answering Madoka's answer but she had no other choice for her and the other's sake. Madoka tilted her head as she was confused with Alice's answer. Alice then summoned several dolls and turned towards it.

"Please bring me two more teacups and some desserts," Alice ordered her dolls.

"Yes, mistress Alice," the dolls nodded before it went into the kitchen. After a few seconds, they came back with the teacups and some cakes and placed it on the table. Madoka excitedly trailed her eyes on every doll that went forth and back at the room.

"Miss Alice, are your dolls alive?" Madoka asked.

"Nope, I'm the one manipulating all my dolls," Alice replied. "Why do you ask?"

"But you just talked with them," Madoka said.

"I was quite surprised too," Mami said. "I didn't remember seeing you talking with your dolls before."

"Well... although I'm the one who's manipulating my dolls, but I'd like to make them seemed alive for personal amusement," Alice said.

"I see," Madoka said. She then took a bite on the cake that Alice's dolls brought to them and curved a small smile when she tasted the sweetness of it. "Wow! This cake is really delicious!"

"Thank you for your compliment," Alice said. "I thought that you won't like the cake that I just baked."

"Wow, you can bake too?"

"Yes."

"Miss Alice was the one who cooked for me last night and this morning, and everything was delicious," Mami said to Madoka. Alice only smiled when she heard Mami's compliment.

"That's the least thing that I could do for you," Alice said. Then she noticed that someone was not with Madoka right at that moment. "Speaking of which, it seems that miss Sayaka isn't with you."

"She said she had something to do," Madoka said.

"Oh," Alice said. She took few sip of her tea before she looked at Mami and asked a question. "Now then, are you ready for witch hunt?"

"Yes," Mami only replied with short answer. She felt reluctant to answer Alice's question. But she had to make a decision so that Alice would not be disappointed with her, especially since she promised Alice that she would keep her spirit strong no matter what happens to her in the near future.

"Can I come too?" Madoka asked. Mami looked at her with a concerned expression.

"I think I won't involve you in witch hunt anymore after what happened yesterday," Mami said. "It's too dangerous for you since you don't have any magical abilities."

Madoka lowered her head as she felt disappointed with Mami's answer. But she had to accept the decision since what Mami had just said was true. The main reason she wanted to visit Mami was so that she could join her at witch hunts and gave her some morale support, which she thought the least thing that she could do for Mami.

"Then I think I should make a contract with Kyuubey so that I can help you," Madoka tried to convince Mami. Mami only kept silent. She felt regret because she was the one who told Madoka that she had the potential to be able to help other people in the first place. But she did not have the courage to disagree with Madoka's decision since it would shatter Madoka's hope to become a better and helpful person. Alice only gazed at Mami and Madoka for merely a minute.

"I think there's no problem with miss Madoka coming along," Alice finally spoke, making Mami surprised to hear her decision. The main reason that Alice wanted Madoka to come with them was that so she could at least kept her eyes on Madoka. She did not want her to make a contract with Kyuubey. At the same time, Alice hoped that Sayaka would not make a rash decision and become a magical girl.

"W-wait, miss Alice! I don't want Madoka to be involved anymore although she had the potential to become a magical girl! It's too dangerous and I won't allow it!" Mami said in a disapproved tone. She then realized that she had unintentionally raised her voice towards Alice and immediately changes her tone as she spoke. "I'm sorry, miss Alice. I didn't mean to argue with you, but I'm afraid that something will happen to Madoka."

"Don't worry, I'll promise that nothing that can harm her and you," Alice replied. Madoka looked at both Mami and Alice with a confused expression. She thought that Alice was supposed to accept Mami's decision since Mami was a veteran magical girl. But from their conversation, it seemed to Madoka that Mami was the one who had to agree with Alice.

"Please, Mami," Madoka pleaded.

"Alright, you can come with us," Mami finally agreed. She saw Madoka's face started to brighten up once again.

"But promise us that you won't become a magical girl until it's needed," Alice suddenly said in a serious tone.

"Eh? Why?" Madoka asked.

"Let's just say that good things will happen to those who are patient and I'm sure of it. So can you promise us?"

"O-okay, I'll promise," Madoka replied. After thinking for the second time, what Alice had just said was quite true because she was still unsure about what wish she want to make. If she make a haste wish that she will regret later on, she will feel that she had wasted her one time chance for her wish to come true.

"Now that's settled, let's finish our tea and cake so that we can go early," Alice said. After the three of them finished their food and had Alice's dolls washed all the dishes, they immediately left Mami's apartment.

Mami was nervous with Alice joining her on her witch hunt as they started walking around the city. Although she knew that she was an experienced and veteran magical girl but she felt that Alice was more knowledgeable and experienced in magic, especially since she already knew that Alice was related with Remilia, Sakuya and Vita. After walking endlessly for almost an hour, Mami's soul gem finally glowed faintly as it reacted to witch's magical signature nearby.

"I've found nearby witch," Mami said. Alice and Madoka only nodded before the three of them continued walking until they reached a empty park. Mami made sure no one was around before she changed into her magical outfit. Her soul gem blinked once before a magic circle formed in front of them.

"Let's go inside," Alice said as she summoned dozens dolls around her. Each doll was equipped with a lance on its right arm and a kite shield on its left arm, unlike the one that Madoka and Mami saw before at the apartment.

"Some of you go and protect miss Madoka," Alice ordered her dolls.

"Roger, mistress Alice," Several dolls then flew towards Madoka and stand by beside her. Alice turned at Madoka and said, "Now you won't have to worry about familiars and the witch because my dolls will protect you from them."

"Thank you, miss Alice," Madoka said. Since the witch already hatched from its egg, the familiars that guarding the barrier were more aggressive and started attacking Mami, Madoka and Alice as they walked inside the barrier. Alice used tactical strategy in engaging with the familiars as she divided her dolls into two groups. Half of her dolls that she summoned formed a defense line in front of her, while the other half continuously attacked the familiars. The familiars also did not manage to lay an attack on Madoka since Alice's dolls would kill it instantly the moment it stepped within the doll's attack range.

_Amazing! Even miss Alice was able to fight the familiars despite being a newly contract magical girl. I'm really envy of her_, Madoka thought as she witnessed how Alice fought the familiars. Her heart felt the urge to join in the fight and helped Alice and Mami so that she could at least become someone useful to them. But she had to shrug off the urge because she had made a promise with them not to become a magical girl. In her mind she was wondering for the reason Alice did not want her to become a magical girl. _Is it because miss Alice don't want me to become a magical girl at all so she can gain Mami's attention? No, that's not it... Miss Alice wouldn't do something like that because she's a nice person. She said that I have to be patient so that something good will happen. So I must believe in her._

Mami was panting as she continued engaging at the familiars. She narrowed her eyes as she could feel her heart once again started to beat faster as her mind unconsciously recalled her memories of yesterday. She quickly shrugged off her memories every time it appeared while trying her best to defeat as much familiars as she could so that she would not be a burden towards Alice and Madoka. The reason she did not want to involve Madoka and Sayaka anymore was because she realized that she started to feel lack of confidence in protecting them. But the promise that she and Alice had made with each other gave her the strength and courage to be brave. Then again, thinking about Alice watching her fight had made her more anxiety than earlier.

_It's all right, miss Alice promised that she will protect Madoka... and me_..._ and she promised me that she will stay by my side, while I promised her that I will stay strong no matter what happens. It's all for miss Alice, Madoka and Sayaka's sake... as well as mine_, Mami thought.

"Is there something wrong, Mami?" Madoka asked.

"I-I'm fine," Mami replied as she tried to smile at Madoka.

"Don't be too nervous and anxious," Alice whispered as she walked beside Mami. "After all, Madoka and I are here to help you. So don't you worry about a thing."

"Thank you, miss Alice. I'm sorry for making you two worry about me," Mami said. Alice only smiled without saying anything furthermore. Mami guessed that Alice realized that she was not doing quite well. Once again she tried to convince herself that Alice was by her side to help her and she needed to stay strong and focused on the witch hunt. After walking around the witch's barrier and killed countless familiars, Madoka, Mami and Alice finally reached the centre of the barrier where the witch usually resided. They stood at front of a corridor with runic alphabets carved on the walls along the corridor.

"We're finally here," Mami said. Madoka and Alice nodded in response. After they made sure that they were prepared, they immediately entered the corridor which led them to a strange room filled with lots of bells on the walls. Since the room was abundance of floor, they felt that they were floating inside the room. They carefully looked around but they did not saw a witch around them.

"That's strange. There's no witch in here," Madoka said.

"It should be here," Mami said. "I'm sure of it because I can feel it."

"I agree. I assume that it's hiding from us right now," Alice said. Suddenly the witch appeared out of nowhere and dashed towards Mami from behind.

"Mami, watch out!" Madoka shouted. Mami tried to turn to her back before the witch managed to attack her. But her mind was once again disturbed by the image of the witch she fought yesterday, causing her to lose her concentration for a second before she snapped back into the reality as she heard a heavy bumping sound. A few seconds ago, there was nothing in between the witch and her. Now Mami saw several dolls floated in front of her, holding up their shield and blocked the incoming attack from the witch.

"M-miss Alice," Mami looked at Alice who approached her. "I'm sorry that I've lost my concentration for a moment."

"Fight for a reason so that you have the courage to move on. It's okay if you want to impress miss Madoka and miss Sayaka, but don't forget the main reason you've fought the witches all this time," Alice advised with a smile.

Alice seemed to know the reason Mami could not concentrate on fighting the witch was that because she still kept remembering her traumatic memories. But she did not gave up in giving Mami the courage to overcome her trauma and fear, especially since she assumed that Mami was the type of person who got disappointed and depressed easily. Such person had a fragile heart that needed to be guided and encouraged.

Mami widened her eyes as she heard what Alice had just said before she started to smile. She then conjured several muskets in front of her and took two of it with both of her arms. Mami aimed her muskets at the witch and started shooting it continuously, throwing the empty one before she grabbed the new musket that she just conjured.

_That's right, all this time I fought for a reason_. _I fought to protect people from witches. Just like miss Alice said, it's fine if I wanted to impress someone as long as I remember my reason for fighting the witches. I know that I was stupid for making a contract with Kyuubey. But I've survived death twice solely for a reason; to protect anyone, especially those who are dear to me. If I die or become a coward now, that means I'll give a chance for Madoka to become a magical girl_, Mami thought.

Alice sighed in relief as she saw Mami slowly started to get her confidence back. Both Alice and Mami continued engaging at the witch while Madoka only stood behind them. She watched at them with awe as she could feel their teamfight was in sync. Alice's dolls kept distracting the witch's attention while Mami continued to conjure her muskets and shot it. The witch shriek in pain as some of the bullets hit its body.

"This one's quite strong," Mami said.

"Not to worry," Alice replied. "It's already weakening."

Suddenly within a second, they heard a clashing metal as something that looked like a blue ray of light accelerated in front of them and hit the witch. It was too fast for the three of them to see what it was. The thing bounced all over the room and continuously hit the witch before it stopped in front of them. Madoka and Mami widened their eyes as the thing was a person with a short blue hair, matching with her blue eyes. She wore something similar to a breast plate, a blue skirt and a pair of detached sleeve with a pair of white gloves. A large white cape covered mostly over her upper body. They could see a blue soul gem that was almost similar to a cresent moon located at her navel. She was holding a cutlass on her right hand.

"Sayaka!" Madoka said in a surprised tone. Sayaka only smiled at Madoka before she conjured several cutlasses around her and continuously threw the cutlasses at the witch.

"She made a contract with Kyuubey," Mami muttered before she also joined Sayaka in fighting the witch. Alice clenched her hands as she looked at Sayaka. She did not expect that Sayaka would make a contract with Kyuubey too soon after what she and Madoka witnessed yesterday. She guessed that there was nothing that she could not do since Sayaka had become a magical girl. Now that only person that she could prevent from making a contract with Kyuubey was Madoka. Alice then floated beside Madoka as she regroups all her dolls in front of her to form a defense line.

"This is it!" Sayaka shouted as she started accelerated.

"Tiro Finale!" Mami shouted as the musket that she held turned into a gigantic canon and shot it towards the witch. The witch let out a small cry before it vanished out from Madoka, Mami, Sayaka and Alice's sight, leaving behind a grief seed. The witch's barrier also started to disappear before the four of them found themselves back at the park. They all sighed in relief as the fight was finally over. Madoka looked at Sayaka who walked towards the grief seed and picked it up before she turned towards them.

"It's finally over," Sayaka said with a smile. Just before anyone could respond, Homura suddenly appeared out of nowhere and walking slowly towards them. Madoka only looked at her without saying anything.

"I've warned you not to make a contract with Kyuubey and it seems you paid no attention to my warning," Homura said as she looked at Sayaka who showed her hostility towards Homura the moment she saw her. But on the other hand, Homura only ignored her as she turned her face towards Alice who was surrounded by her dolls. "A new magical girl?"

"That's a secret," Alice quickly replied. Homura looked at Alice in silent for a second.

"Well, I hope you're ready to face every consequences that you'll receive as a magical girl," Homura said while she fixed her hair with her hand as she turned around.

"Does that mean you know the consequences of becoming a magical girl?" Alice asked. For a brief moment, Alice could see Homura's body stiffened before it loosens back, as if she was surprised by the question.

"Yes."

"What are the consequences?" Alice asked, trying to dig out the secret of the magical girls. Alice assumed that Homura knew something that others did not know based on what she had just said. However Homura did not answer the question as she walked away from them, disappeared into the darkness. All of them only looked at Homura before Madoka, Mami and Alice turned their attention towards Sayaka. Sayaka looked back at them with a nervous expression, while scratching the back of her head.

"Ahaha, I guess I have some explanation to do," Sayaka said as she let out a small laugh.

...

There was silence in Mami's apartment as all of them sat down and drank their tea that Mami had prepared with the help of Alice's dolls. Sayaka shifted her body several times since she was nervous towards whatever came out from Madoka, Alice and especially Mami's mouth. At the same time, she was amazed to see few dolls floating beside Alice after it helped Mami carrying a teapot and four teacups to the table. Since she was busy fighting earlier, she did not notice or paid attention to the dolls before.

"Did you also make a contract with Kyuubey, miss Alice?" Sayaka tried to create a conversation.

"That's a secret," Alice said with a smile, giving the same answer that she gave to Madoka and Homura. Sayaka made a confused expression as she did not understand Alice's answer.

"Sayaka, didn't you said you're hesitated to become a magical girl before," Madoka said.

"Well... yeah... Ahaha..." Sayaka hastily replied. "I guess I had a change of heart."

"Sayaka, you already know that you'll risk your life as magical girl right?" Mami asked.

"Yes. But now that I've became a magical girl, I could help you with the witch hunt from now on," Sayaka replied. Then she looked at Alice once again. "Miss Alice, did you become a magical girl because you didn't want something happen to Mami again? I think you've also disagree on what the girl with bat wings named Remilia and that girl in red had said towards Mami."

Alice continuously sipped her tea as she tried to find a possible answer. She did not like the idea of lying towards other people no matter how important the secrets that she wanted to conceal. So far only Mami knew and accept the truth about her relationship with Remilia, Sakuya and Vita, although she did not tell her on purpose. But Alice was not confident about whether Madoka and especially Sayaka would accept her, since they seemed to dislike Remilia and the others.

"Sayaka, I think miss Alice doesn't want to talk about it for now since she was a little bit tired," Mami replied instead of Alice. Alice only curved a small smile at Mami.

"Ah, I see," Sayaka said. "I'm sorry for asking you."

"That's alright. I'm sorry because I can't tell you anything for now. I'll promise I'll tell you everything when the time comes," Alice said. Sayaka only nodded in response although she still did not understand what Alice meant by what she had just said.

"By the way Sayaka, what wish did you make?" Madoka asked.

"Well... I wished for Kamijou's hand to be completely healed," Sayaka replied. Mami widened her eyes as soon as she heard Sayaka's wish, but no one except Alice noticed sudden change in her expression. Mami immediately curved a smile at Alice before she took a sip of her tea, trying to divert her attention.

"Wow, you've really made a great wish," Madoka said in an amusement tone.

"Thanks," Sayaka said with a smile. "Earlier I've also made another achievement before I've met you all."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, guess what," Sayaka said in a very excited tone. "I've defeated a witch by myself and saved Hitomi and several other people who were possessed by it."

"Hitomi also being possessed by witch?" Madoka asked in a surprised tone. "Is she all right?"

"You don't have to worry. She's all right and well," Sayaka replied with a smile.

"Thank goodness," Madoka said with a sigh as she felt relieved that Hitomi was unharmed.

"By the way, where's Kyuubey?" Mami asked.

"I don't know. He immediately left after I made the contract with him," Sayaka replied. Then once again she turned her attention towards Alice. "Miss Alice, is it okay for you to continuously use your magic?"

"I think there's no problem for me to use my magic a little bit longer," Alice replied.

"Oh," Sayaka only let out that one word. She then looked at the clock on the wall that showed the time 7 PM. "Ah! It's getting late!"

"You're right! Mom and dad are going to worry if I don't go home right now," Madoka said as she and Sayaka stood up.

"Shall I walk you out into the street?" Alice asked.

"Nope, it's okay," Madoka replied. Both Sayaka and Madoka went towards the front door before, accompanied by Mami and Alice. "See you tomrrow, Mami and miss Alice."

"See you tomorrow," Mami replied back, waving at both of them. Alice also waved at Madoka and Sayaka as she watched them went out, slowly closing the door.

"Thank you for making up an excuse for me earlier," Alice said.

"You're welcome," Mami said. "But is it okay for you to keep your identity as a magician a secret from them?"

"I hope so," Alice replied. "I don't like to lie to other people because a bitter truth is better than a sweetest lie. I'll tell them everything that I've told you last night when the time comes. For now, I'm a little bit concerned that they'll dislike me if they know that I'm related to Remilia, Sakuya and miss Vita."

"But you've told me about your relationship with miss Remilia, miss Sakuya and miss Vita," Mami said. "And I don't dislike nor hate you. In fact, I really highly respect you because you were nice to me."

"Thank you for your respect for me. You were able to accept me because you're a kind girl," Alice said in a humble tone.

Being praised by Alice was the wonderful thing that Mami had ever received. She had not received such compliment for quite a long time especially since all this time she had to act like a senior, showing her mature and cool side. Since she now regarded Alice as a sisterly figure to her, she felt that she could show a little bit immature and childlike side of the other hand, Alice felt that Mami started to show her affection towards Alice.

"Umm... Miss Alice, are you going to leave too?" Mami asked, like those of a small child asking their mother. She could feel her heart suddenly pounding for no reason. She guessed that she was anxious if Alice would also left, leaving her alone in her apartment.

"Well... I suppose..." Alice trailed off as she put her finger under her chin before she smiled at Mami. "I'll stay with you for a little bit longer if you'll let me stay."

"Then tonight it'll be my turn to cook dinner for us," Mami said in a cheerful tone, clasping her hands before she turned around and walked towards the kitchen. Alice only smiled as she followed Mami from behind, while wondering whatever unexpected things would occur from then on.

...

**At Arthra:**

Admiral Lindy was sitting at the bridge while reading through a piece of letter that she had just took out from its envelope. She narrowed her eyes several times before she finally closed it. She then opened back her eyes and reached for her tea, sipped it a few times before she fixed her eyes once more at the letter.

"What's wrong, admiral?" Chrono asked as he walked towards Lindy.

"Oh, nothing," Lindy replied before she handed the letter at Chrono. "I just don't understand the content of this letter."

Chrono took the letter and read it over and over again, while tilting his head. He was also confused as he did not understand the content of the letter. It does not tell him much other than stating a few line of some sort of poems.

_When a light engulfed by darkness,_

_A creature shall be born,_

_Learn to free it is a must,_

_So that everything may be back to normal._

"I don't understand," Chrono said. "Usually the letter that we've received was stating something very clearly. Now all we've got is a riddle."

"That's what I would like to know too," Lindy said. She then took the envelope and said. "On the envelope, it says that the letter also goes to Nanoha, Reimu and the others."

"How did the person know about Reimu and her companions?"

"I don't know."

"Then should we inform them?"

"Yes, please do," Lindy replied. Chrono nodded in response before she turned around and walked away. Lindy only slump her head at her chair while blankly stared at the large screen in front of her, wondering what the content of the letter really meant.

* * *

**Afterword:**

Hello there. I'm really sorry for the delay in publishing chapter 8 since I had to reread and re-edit the chapter. I think that I'll try to slow my writing pace down for now since I've started my life as a university student. Nevertheless, I'll try to write as much as possible and publish it as soon as possible...


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Exposed**

Sakura Kyoko was sitting on the top of a building in the darkness of the night while eating a crepe. She was staring at the vast view of the Mitakihara city with Kyuubey who was sitting beside her, wagging his tail from side to side. The cold wind that swept through Kyoko made her feel like she wanted to light up a fire and warm herself up. But since it was practically impossible to do at that moment, she had no choice but to endure the cold.

"I didn't expect that you'll come here," Kyuubey said as he looked at Kyoko.

"Of course I am," Kyoko said. "Though it wasn't an easy trip. I had to come here because someone caused a lot of disturbance at my territory. Now I'm here to take this territory from Mami since I'm sure she's started to weaken after I've heard what had happen to her two days ago."

"That rare for you to be defeated," Kyuubey said as he took a hint that Kyoko had gave up and abandoned her territory. Kyoko became annoyed when she heard the word 'defeated'. She believed that she could win if she was not outnumbered. "So who was the new magical girl that disturbed your territory? I didn't remember making a contract with other girls at Kizamino city."

Kyoko went silent after Kyuubey asked the question. She thought that if she told Kyuubey about Reimu and the others, then she would break the promise that she made when she was captured and brought to Arthra. She knew that she could just break the promise and told Kyuubey everything. But her instinct told her that she would face some consequences if she were to reveal the secret. So she had no other choice but to follow her instinct since she trust her instinct more than her thoughts. After all, she did not want to create a conflict with Reimu and the others anymore. That was the reason she left Kizamino city and headed to Mitakihara city; to avoid them as well as to conquer other territory and gain every grief seeds available.

"That doesn't matter. What matter is I'll conquer this city," Kyoko said before she took another bite of her crepe.

"But there's quite a lot of magical girls here," Kyuubey said. "Although the only magical girls that I know are Mami and one of her junior."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"While I've made a contract with the two of them, I don't recall making contracts with other magical girls," Kyuubey said. Kyoko only looked at him as she was confused by what he had just said.

"Well, that's fine with me," Kyoko said with a grin. "I'm sure that they're just a bunch of rookies. I'll take them down in no time at all."

"Then I see no point of stopping you from taking this territory," Kyuubey said.

"Hey, I have a question," Kyoko said while her eyes looked at Kyuubey. "Do you believe in other magic source?"

"If you're asking whether there's another magical source other than that I've gave to you and other magical girls, I will say it's impossible," Kyuubey replied. "Although there's a few magical girls that I don't remember making a contract with, but I believe that they're still the same magical girls like you are."

"I see."

"Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. I'm just wondering," after saying that Kyoko immediately stood up and walked away before she disappeared into the dark night, leaving Kyuubey behind. Kyuubey only looked at Kyoko before he turned back his gaze towards the city.

...

"Miss Nanoha, what are you going to teach me?" Oriko asked. Nanoha smiled nervously by the way Oriko addressed her in a very polite manner, especially since Oriko was older than her. But for Oriko, being polite towards someone who she could consider as a teacher was a must. Furthermore Nanoha and Fate were far more experienced in using magic than her. So it made sense to her that she had to show some respect towards them. Fate only smiled at Nanoha as she looked at her since it was quite rare for her to see Nanoha's nervous face.

The three of them were standing at the middle of the garden behind Oriko's mansion, wearing their magical girl outfit. That night, it was Nanoha and Fate's turn to train Oriko. Although both of them felt awkward to teach and train someone who was older than them, Oriko insisted that it does not matter to her as long as she could increase her combat capabilities.

"Well since you've already been training some basic in fighting techniques, I suppose I'll try to teach you how to control your spheres," Nanoha said.

"Control?"

"Like this," Nanoha said as she summoned several pink orbs around her. The orbs accelerated upwards towards the sky before it flew around randomly. Oriko watched the orbs with full of amazement.

"But... wouldn't it hard for me since we have different magic?" Oriko asked.

"Well..." Nanoha scratched her head as she just realized about the matter that Oriko had just said. She did not have any problem in controlling her axel shooter as long she knew how to command Raising Heart. But she felt that she could not explain the mechanism behind it to Oriko since it was too complex to understand. Furthermore, the fact that their magic system was different made it more difficult to find the logical and easy explaination.

"First of all, could you conjure a sphere?" Fate suddenly asked.

"Okay," Oriko replied. She then held up her hand and conjured a sphere in front of her.

"Can you feel an aura radiated from your sphere?"

"Yes, I can feel it."

"Good," Fate said. "Since you could feel the aura from your sphere, I think that you could link your mana from your body onto the sphere. Then you try to control your sphere..."

Fate suddenly stopped as she looked at Oriko who had a blank expression on her face as she tried to understand everything that Fate had just said. Fate's eyebrows twitched as she tried to find an easier explanation for Oriko. She guessed that having two different magic system made a huge difference, especially the one that they never seen before and was never been listed in TSAB's systems. Nanoha put her hand under her chin before an idea finally strucked inside her head; an easier explaination that she thought might be able to help Oriko to understand the mechanism of controlling her sphere.

"Miss Oriko, try to imagine you're pouring your energy to the sphere so that your sphere can get more energy from you. You can think and imagine of whatever that you consider as your energy coming from your body and goes into the sphere. Then imagine the sphere move and float around you," Nanoha said. "It works for me before when I first tried to command Raising Heart. So I think you'll be able to use the same method."

"Is it like how I imagined my spheres shoot towards a witch as my mind command the spheres or like when I learnt how to conjure a shield?" Oriko asked.

"W-well, something like that," Nanoha hastily replied since she was unsure whether Oriko's method of imagining her magic was similar to how Nanoha described earlier. "Now you'll just have to imagine a little bit complex movement."

"I'll try," Oriko said before she started imagining a glowing blue coloured mist which she considered as her mana radiated from her body, connecting to the sphere that she conjured earlier. After she felt that the aura on her sphere got stronger, she then imagine her sphere slowly floating around her.

"It looks like you've successfully did it," Fate said with a smile as she looked at Oriko's sphere circling around Oriko.

"Yeah," Oriko said in an excited tone.

"Now try to control your sphere and hit one of the orbs that I conjured earlier," Nanoha said.

"I don't think I'm able to do some advance movement like that," Oriko said.

"I believe you can," Nanoha said with a smile. "Just imagine your sphere shoots upward into the air and try control to it's movement. Then try to hit every orbs."

Oriko once again tried to imagine the movement of her sphere. But she felt that she was trying too hard to make her sphere move the way she wanted since her mind was unpaitently full of eager to quickly enhance her newly developed ability. Oriko then took a few deep breaths as she tried to clear and calm her mind. She tried to remember how she conjured her first shield, how she shoot her spheres and how it works.

Oriko let her subconscious mind freely imagined the way she controlled her sphere before the sphere shot upward into the sky and flew in a very fast pace. She curved a smile as she saw her sphere did everything that she imagined and wanted it to do. Then she immediately directed her sphere towards Nanoha's orbs that were floating and hit one of it.

**Boom!**

They could hear the sound as the sphere collided with the orb and got destroyed.

"Well that's a good hit," Fate said.

"Thank you," Oriko smiled at Fate when she heard her praise. Oriko continued to conjure several sphere and controlled it one by one. Every one of it hits the remaining orbs that Nanoha still conjured. Nanoha noticed that the movement of Oriko's spheres were stiff as it flew around at the sky before she conjured another several orbs.

"Miss Oriko, your sphere's movement is a little bit stiff although it's fast," Nanoha said. "I think we'll focus on that so that you'll be able to control different movement of the sphere at the same time and until it's movement are smooth."

"You mean that I should make my spheres move differently from each other at the same time?"

"Yes, just imagined different movement."

"I'll try," Oriko said as she once again let her mind imagined the movement of her sphere.

Since there were about six of Nanoha's orbs, she also conjured six spheres and commanded to attack all of the orbs at the same time. Each one of the spheres accelerated towards Nanoha's orbs and hit it one by one. Nanoha and Oriko continued to conjured their projectiles and did the same training over and over again for merely an hour while Fate only spectated the training.

"Say... why don't we go on a little witch hunt right now?" Nanoha suddenly asked.

"But aren't we still in the middle of the training?" Oriko asked back.

"I think you're already get a hang of it. From what I see, you've been able to control your spheres quite good. We'll go on a witch hunt while enabling you to use it more efficiently."

"I see."

"I think we'll only do witch hunt in this city to save time," Fate said. She noticed Oriko's body jolted all of the sudden before she asked, "Is there something wrong, miss Oriko?"

"Nothing," Oriko said. "But I think I prefer to hunt witches at Kizamino city."

"But wouldn't we encounter miss Kyoko if we go there?" Nanoha asked.

"That's alright," Oriko said. "We'll escape from her if she saw or found us there."

"So we'll go to Kizamino city then and hunt for witches just for a while," Nanoha said.

"Okay," Oriko replied. She felt relieved that Nanoha and Fate decided to discontinue their intention to hunt witches at Mitakihara city. If the two of them still insisted in doing witch hunt in the city, she was sure that they will encounter someone she wished she would not want to encounter. The three of them immediately left the mansion and walked towards the train station, which only took about five minutes to reach the station by foot.

"We hope that we can get more data from different witches so that the research team can analyze it thoroughly," Nanoha said.

"Is there anything wrong with the previous data that you've collected for the first time?" Oriko asked.

"I don't really know," Nanoha replied. "Admiral Lindy wants us to collect more data, but she didn't told us anything about the result of previous data yet."

"I see," Oriko said before they stopped in front of the train station. "We're here. Let's..."

Oriko did not managed to finish her sentence as she was startled all of the sudden when she felt someone had bumped against her. She could hear jingling sounds of coins hitting upon the concrete floor the moment she turned her face around to look at the person who bumped at her. The person had short black hair and wore a school uniform. Her appearance was much more like a delinquent rather than a student with good attitude. The person had already bent down her body to pick up her money before she looked up at Oriko. Oriko stared at the person eyes and could feel that the person had a lonely and depressing life.

"Are you all right?" Oriko asked while curving a smile. The person only nodded before she continued to pick up her money. Oriko did not hesitate to bend down her body to help pick up every coin that she could reach. Nanoha and Fate looked at each other and smiled before they also voluntarily to help picking up the coins. Soon all of the coins that were on the floor were picked up and being handed to the person.

"Is that all?" Oriko asked, refering to the amount of coins that the person own. The person looked at the coins on her hand before she looked back at Oriko.

"U-um, yes," the person replied.

"That's good," Oriko said. "We'll be on our way now. Take care."

The person only nodded before she turned around and walked away from them. Oriko, Nanoha and Fate only looked at the person before they smiled at each other. Then they did not waste anymore time to enter the train station.

"You're really a nice person, miss Oriko," Nanoha compliment.

"That's just a natural attitude," Oriko said while smiling.

"A good person usually will be rewarded with good things," Fate said. Oriko did not replied to Fate's word other than gave her a smile. She immediately wondered whether Fate's word were true enough for a person like her.

As Oriko's mind slowly came back into the reality after having a long thought, she suddenly widened her eyes as she saw someone who she did not expect to meet standing on the other side of the platform. She felt that she was starting to sweat all over her body the moment the person's eyes also widened when she noticed her and immediately turned into a sharp glare. Oriko had to quickly divert her attention so that she looked as if she did not recognized the person.

"Miss Oriko, what's wrong?" Nanoha tilted her head as she noticed Oriko was breathing fast.

"N-nothing," Oriko stuttered as she quickly curved a smile. Nanoha only continued to tilt her head, wondering about whether there was something bothering Oriko. But she did not ask anymore questions since Oriko said that there was nothing wrong with her. As the train arrived at the station, the three of them immediately went inside. Since there were less people got into the train that night, Oriko could see the person was sitting a few feet away from them and frequently looked at her with a cold eyes.

Fate noticed that Oriko had been trailing her eyes someone a few times. So she also trailed her eyes to look at the person without being noticed. The person had a long black hair, a black eyes and wore a school uniform. Her legs were covered entirely with a black pantyhose. From her observation, she could see the person's eyes was filled with hatred as she glared at the three of them. Fate noticed that the person was wearing a ring on her left hand that was similar to Oriko's ring. Fate then made a descision to communicate with Nanoha and Oriko through telepathy.

"Miss Oriko, who is that person?" Fate asked. "She seemed to be constantly watching you for nearly ten minutes and ignored everything else."

"It's nothing," Oriko replied. "Maybe she mistaken me for someone else."

"I don't think lying will make everything better," Fate continued. "I also noticed that you're always looking at the girl. Please tell us so that at least we can do something."

Oriko sighed as she finally gave up trying to hide something, especially since Fate had already noticed her behavior and the whole situation. Nanoha who were just noticed the situation began to trailed her eyes towards the person. The three of them acted normally while keeping their conversation through telepathy.

"She is another magical girl who lived in Mitakihara city," Oriko said. "I don't know much about her, but I only know that her name was Akemi Homura."

"Is she the reason for you to avoid hunting witches at Mitakihara city?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes."

"Is it because of you're invading her territory?" Fate asked.

"No, I don't think so since I've never met her before," Oriko replied. "The day I've became a magical girl, she came to the mansion while carrying a handgun on her hand. If it weren't for miss Reimu and the others, I would've been killed by her."

"K-kill!?" Nanoha was surprised by the word before her expression turned a little bit serious. "But why would she wanted to kill you?"

"I don't know," Oriko replied.

"I see," Fate said. "She won't be able to attack us even if she want to since there's people in this train."

"I doubt that she won't follow us to anywhere we go," Nanoha said. Fate nodded in response.

"We'll have to go to some isolated place and use teleportation magic since we can't use our magic here," Fate said.

"But it'll give her the chance to attack us," Oriko said in a uneasy tone. "I think I need to plan a counter attack."

"Believe us. We won't let her hurt you," Fate said.

"The moment we arrived at isolated place, I'll cast a barrier at you just in case," Nanoha said.

"I see," Oriko said. Although she was hesitant with the plan, she had no choice but to believe Nanoha and Fate, especially since the two of them are more expert in situation like she was having right now. "Since she already saw me, I think that she'll go to the mansion even if we're be able to escape from her after this. We need to tell miss Reimu about this."

"Alright," Fate said. "Leave this matter to us."

"Kizamino city... Kizamino city..." The three of them could hear the voice of the train conductor coming out from the train's speaker.

"Let's go," Oriko said. Nanoha and Fate only nodded in response.

They immediately got off the train soon as it stopped at Kizamino city's train station. While they walked at a steady pace, their eyes occasionally trailed behind them and saw that Homura was following them. Oriko became more anxiety as they slowly walked away from the crowds. The sound of their footsteps became clearer and clearer while the sound of people's voices and other noise became more faint, quieter and distant until they arrived at a walk path near a river. As soon as Nanoha looked around to make sure that no one was there beside them, Nanoha immediately changed into her barrier jacket and cast the dome shaped barrier at Oriko, covering her entirely. Fate also changed her clothes but only stood still after she turned around and looked at Homura who was already in her magical girl outfit, standing not far away from them.

Homura carefully observed the two girls who were not more than twelve years old in front of her. She clearly remembered that Oriko did not have another companions other than Kirika in previous timeline. She guessed that the timeline that she was in right at the moment changed drastically that Oriko had recruit new magical girls. At the same time Homura also felt confused that she did not see Kirika anywhere. But knowing Kirika's attitude and behaviour, Homura assumed that she may be hiding somewhere waiting for a chance to ambush her. She eventually ignored her thoughts because she wanted to focus on Oriko who was surrounded by pink coloured dome. It was a chance for Homura to get rid of Oriko before she started to cause disturbance in this timeline.

_So... now she's using two small girls as her _pawns, Homura thought. _How typical of her_.

The world around Homura suddenly turned monochrome as the gears inside her buckler rotates, creating a clicking sound. She then took out a handgun from her buckler and slowly walked towards Oriko. But she failed in approaching Oriko's frozen body when the barrier that Nanoha casted hindered her from passing through. Seeing that her effort was useless, she did not try to shoot as she assumed that the barrier would also deflect her bullets.

Homura did not recall of Oriko having an ability to create a barrier in her past timeline, so she guessed that it was either Nanoha or Fate who casted such magic at Oriko. Thus she wondered about how they knew her purpose of meeting them and her plan to kill Oriko. Since she could not find an alternative way of dealing with Oriko, she walked towards Fate and unfreeze the time.

For a few seconds Fate sworn that Homura was a few feets away from them. But just in a split second Homura was standing in front of her while firmly holding a handgun which pointing at her body. Fate only looked at Homura without blinking her eyes. Since she had experience in handling such situation before, she did not panicked nor surprised by Homura's action. Instead Fate prepared to use any force in stopping Homura if needed. But she rather to use her teleportation magic than engaging in a fight since they had to make sure that Oriko was safe.

Homura on the other hand was puzzled by Fate's response. While other people would normally be frightened and flinched if someone pointed a gun at them, yet Fate showed a very calm but determined and cautious expression despite Homura's action towards her. Even Nanoha showed the same response as Fate. The only person who seemed to be a little bit panicked that Homura could clearly saw was Oriko. She did not intend to hurt Nanoha and Fate since they were just little girls. But she had no other choice but to threaten them so that they would turn in Oriko to her.

"If you don't want to get hurt, I suggest that you release the barrier and hand over that girl to me," Homura said in a demanded tone.

"Pardon me for asking, but how did you know that we're the one who casted a barrier at miss Oriko?" Nanoha asked, pretending that she did not know anything. "What are you going to do to her once we turn her in to you?"

"You don't need to know any of that," Homura replied while her eyes trailed at Nanoha before she looked back at Homura. "Since it seems that you don't know anything about her, then let me tell you something for your own sake. She's not someone who you can put your trust at all."

"What makes you so sure about that? Miss Oriko said that she doesn't really know you. So I believe that this is the first time she met you," Now Fate was the one who asked another question. Judging by Homura's statement earlier, Fate assumed that Homura knew something that made her considered Oriko as her enemy.

On the other hand, Homura stiffened as she heard Fate's question. She did not expect both Nanoha and Fate was that clever in trying to ask tricky questions and made some logical arguments. Homura felt like she was dealing with someone who was more mature and experienced than her despite their young appearance. Since being silent and careful had already became her habit, she decided to leave the question unanswered rather than said something that would reveal anything.

"I warn you for the final time," Homura said. "Hand over the girl to me. It'll be pointless for you two to hurt yourselves because of you're protecting her."

"Dimension transfer! Destination: Oriko's mansion!" Fate ordered Bardische. Seeing that there was no more room for negotiation, she had to use the teleportation spell before anything worse that could happen to the three of them.

[_Dimension Transfer_]

A magic circle that formed below Fate made Homura took a step back in surprise, assuming that Fate would attack her. Before she could managed to stop time and launched an attack, Nanoha, Fate and Oriko had already vanished from her sight. Homura looked around her and saw no trace of them. She clenched her hands in anger as she felt that she had let her chance to kill Oriko slipped away once again because of her carelessness. But she heard the words that came out from Fate's mouth just before they disappeared.

_Oriko's mansion_, Homura thought as she started walking away.

...

Marisa was walking around the garden, searching for Oriko, Nanoha and Fate before a magic circle suddenly formed near her. Few seconds later she saw the three of them slowly became visible above it.

"Where were you three?" Marisa asked. "I've been looking for you all."

"We're trying to hunt witches just a while ago," Oriko said.

"So how did it go?"

"Well... we've encountered Akemi Homura before we could manage to find one and had to escape using miss Fate's teleportation magic. She even pointed her gun at miss Fate and demanded to hand me over to her."

"That'll be a problem. I'll tell Reimu to put up an illusion barrier immediately," Marisa said as she turned around while scratching her head. "We'd better go inside the mansion now."

"We're sorry for causing such trouble. We didn't expect for such unexpected thing to occur since we didn't know about the matter," Nanoha said with a regretful tone as she bowed slightly towards Marisa and Oriko.

"Don't worry about it too much. We'll take care of it," Marisa said with a grin so that Nanoha and Fate would not feel guilty. The four of them immediately went inside and met Reimu who was at the living room at that time. Her eyes were sparkle with enthusiasm as she watched a detective drama show on the television. Hayate, Signum, Shamal, Vita and Zafira were also present inside the room, having a great time chatting with each other while drinking some hot chocolate before Hayate noticed Marisa and the others.

"Ah, Nanoha, Fate and miss Oriko," Hayate said with a smile. "Did you already finished with your training?"

"Yes," Oriko replied.

"Is there something wrong? The four of you looked like there's something bad going to happen anytime soon," Signum asked as she noticed that Marisa and the others had an uneasy expression.

"Well... yeah... something like that," Marisa replied before she turned towards Reimu. She wasted no time to ask her, "Hey Reimu, can you put up an illusion barrier inside the mansion like last time?"

"Let me guess... someone's going to visit us, right?" Reimu asked as she looked at Marisa.

"Yeah," Marisa replied while gestured her hand at Oriko, Nanoha and Fate. "They've met Akemi Homura while they're doing some witch hunt. So we need to put up the barrier because I guess that girl will come here sooner or later."

"Why did we always face with some trouble one after another?" Reimu groaned with a sigh as she stood up and turned off the television before she left the living room. She felt annoyed that a problem arose whenever she felt that she was having a free and peaceful time, especially since she did not want to miss the drama at the moment. After a few minutes, she came back with her gohei and some talismans on her hands. "I'll put up the barrier on the mansion now. Marisa, tell Remilia, Sakuya and Patchouli to prepare for any unexpected fight. Though I doubt Homura will see us after the barrier is activated."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about them," Marisa said while putting both her arms behind her head.

"I'll tell them," Nanoha volunteered before she turned around and left the living room.

Reimu sighed before she closed her eyes while holding up both of her arms as she started chanting something. Fate and the others could see Reimu's body as well as her talismans and gohei started to fuse with white light. After a few minutes, she opened back her eyes and threw her talismans into the air. The talismans floated around her before it slowly dissolved into the thin air.

"Alright, the barrier's already been set up," Reimu said with another sigh as she slumped back on the chair that she sat a while ago. While she could depend on Sanae and other residents of Gensokyo to take care of dozens of witches that kept appearing at Gensokyo, she felt like she wanted to return and deal with the witches rather than being on the outside world. She was annoyed that whatever they were trying to do and plan seemed to be backfired by anyone that considered them an enemy.

"What should we do now?" Fate asked since she was unsure and clueless.Hayate and the others only looked at Reimu.

"We'll wait and see what will happen next," Reimu said.

"What happened?" Signum asked Fate. All of them seemed to be confused with the situation since Nanoha, Fate and Oriko did not explain anything in detail.

"We've met with another magical girl who also showed her hostility towards miss Oriko on our way to do some witch hunt at Kizamino city," Fate replied.

"Is it the one named Akemi Homura that miss Marisa just mentioned?" Shamal asked.

"Yes."

"We didn't expect to meet her at the train station," Oriko said. "The main reason why we always went to Kizamino city to do witch hunt there and not here was because miss Remilia told us that the girl was living in this city since she had met her before."

"I see," Signum said. "Is it because you're invading her territory?"

"I don't know," Oriko replied. Signum made a puzzled expression as she looked at Oriko. Oriko then continue with her answer. "On the night I've became a magical girl, I've foresaw a lot of clairvoyances. One of it was about Akemi Homura was fighting a huge witch that was almost the same size of a large building. On the top of some ruined building I saw a girl with pink hair tied into a twintail, watching Homura fighting with a fearful expression on her face. Kyuubey was also there witnessing the battle. Then I'm sure that the pink haired girl made a contract with him and defeated the witch. And then, she..."

"That's when we arrived at Oriko's mansion," Marisa suddenly interrupted. "After we met Oriko while we were walking inside the mansion that we thought was empty, Oriko foresaw another future which Akemi Homura came to the mansion and tried to kill her. It was either she's able to fend that girl or she was killed by her. So Reimu set up a temporary illusion barrier to hide ourselves. So it was no big deal for us as long as she didn't know we're here."

"But now she knows that miss Oriko was here in this city, I doubt that she won't be coming here," Vita said.

"That's why I've put up the illusion barrier," Reimu said. "If she still saw the mansion was empty, she'll think that Oriko, miss Nanoha and miss Fate have escape to another place."

"If only our barrier are penetrable for anyone to go in or out, we could've help you putting up the barrier," Hayate said.

"Our barrier magic will bring more suspicious for the girl," Zafira said.

"I agree," Vita said.

"That's alright," Reimu said. "My barrier alone is strong enough to hide our presence."

"Maybe we'll need to create a new barrier magic spell so that we can help miss Reimu and miss Oriko," Signum suggested.

"Great idea," Hayate smiled. "We'll try and ask admiral Lindy to approve it later."

"By the way, is the girl really a bad person?" Shamal asked.

"She seemed to be able to teleport and managed to point a gun at me earlier. But it's just a normal hand gun though," Fate explained.

"If it's a normal handgun, I wouldn't worry about it too much," Arf said with a smile.

"But still, we need to take any precautions if she's someone who will hurt anyone that she consider as her enemy," Shamal said.

"Agree," Signum nodded.

"I've already told miss Remilia, miss Sakuya and miss Patchouli about the situation right now," Nanoha said as she came into the living room.

"They didn't really care about it right?" Marisa asked.

"Yes, but they said that they'll be inside their room for now."

"Just as I thought," Marisa said. "Then again, thank you for informing them."

"You're welcome," Nanoha replied with a smile before she let out a sigh. "We didn't even get the chance to collect any data on witches."

"Don't worry. We've already sent some data that we've collected ourselves to Arthra when we assisted miss Oriko," Hayate said.

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Thank you, Hayate," Nanoha let out another smile.

"You're welcome," Hayate smiled back at Nanoha.

Since the living room was located near the front door, they suddenly could hear the door slowly opened. Nanoha and the others went silent and seemed to be cautious as soon as they heard small sound of footsteps broke the silent night. Reimu, Marisa and Oriko also stayed silent while looking at the door connecting the living room with the corridor outside.

...

Homura took a few slow steps as she cautiously looked around the moment she entered Oriko's mansion. Since she did not want Oriko to escape again, she had no other choice but to freeze the time around her. Since the door connecting to the living room was the nearest to the front door, Homura decided to turn the door's knob. It made a small creaking sound as she slowly opened the door. As she entered the living room, she kept scanning around the room and found that there was no one inside. Seeing that there were mugs and teacups on the table, she was convinced that Oriko was still inside the mansion. After a few second, she took a small and slow steps towards the door behind her and went outside before she closed it.

She dashed around the mansion since she could not afford to waste anymore time. Like the first time she went to the mansion, Homura checked every room that she came across. But her effort to hunt Oriko down for the third time inside the mansion failed as she could not even see Oriko, Nanoha nor Fate. Seeing that there was no other room left for her to examine, Homura quickly left the mansion before she unfreeze back the time.

...

A few seconds later the sound of the footsteps disappeared and the environment went silent once more. Nanoha and the others continued to stare the door that was never opened by whoever that was outside the living room.

"So... what just happened?" Vita asked. "I'm sure all of us heard footsteps coming closer and closer towards this room."

"She already left," suddenly all of them could hear a voice. Nanoha and the others was a little bit startled to see Remilia and Sakuya standing near the window. Remilia and Sakuya only smiled as they slowly walking towards them.

"Miss Remilia! Miss Sakuya! When did both of you came in!?" Nanoha asked.

"Just now," Sakuya replied.

"I don't think that all of us saw you two went inside earlier," Shamal said.

"Let's leave it to that," Remilia said with a grin. Sakuya only smiled without saying anything further. Nanoha and the others looked at Remilia and Sakuya with a confused expression. But since the two of them seemed they did not want to tell anything regarding how they managed to sneak inside the living room, they had no choice but to shrug off their confusion.

"That girl just arrived," Signum said. "It's impossible for her to come and left in such a short time without searching thoroughly in this mansion."

"Well, that's not important," Marisa said with a grin. "What's important is that she already left the mansion."

"So that means we can go outside the living room now?" Arf asked.

"If that's what you want to do," Reimu replied before she got up from her chair and walked towards the door. As she went outside the room, she saw Patchouli slowly approached her. She flipping through a book before her eyes fixed at Reimu.

"It seems that she couldn't find us at all," Patchouli said.

"Of course she couldn't," Reimu said with a proud tone as she clenched her right hand in front of her chest. "I'm the one who put up the illusion barrier."

"I hope she will think that the three of us escaped somewhere else," Nanoha who followed Reimu from behind said.

"Yeah," Marisa said while scratching her head. "It'll be a problem if she keep coming here and make us use the illusion barrier again and again."

"I'm the one who put up the barrier," Reimu said while narrowing her eyes. "So why are you talking as if you're the one who do the hard work?"

"Well, it doesn't matter so don't mind about it," Marisa grinned while putting her hands behind her head as she went upstairs while whistling. Reimu only looked at Marisa with an annoying expression.

"Well, I guess we'll be going now," Nanoha said after she looked at the time at her cell phone, showing it was already 8 PM. "It's getting late and we have school tomorrow."

"We're sorry for causing you trouble, miss Reimu," Fate said with a slight bow.

"That's alright," Reimu replied. "Just be careful from now on since now you know about Akemi Homura."

"We will," Fate said. Then Nanoha, Fate and Arf bowed slightly before they left the mansion. Reimu only looked at them disappeared before she stretched her arms and went back inside the living room.

"I think I'll be going to Arthra now to give the grief seed to Admiral Lindy and have Yuuno and other research team analyze it," Hayate said as soon as she went outside the living room.

"Who is this Yuuno that you mention?" Patchouli asked. "I remember miss Nanoha uttered the name before, but I haven't saw anyone by the name among you."

"Oh he's just our friend," Hayate replied. "I don't know where he were when you first went abroad the Arthra. But currently I think he's working in the infinity library."

"Did you just say library!?" Patchouli suddenly drew her face close to Hayate. Her eyes was full of sparkle the moment she heard the word 'library'. "And by infinity, does it mean that it had a lot of books!?"

"Y-yes," Hayate stuttered. "Although it mainly contains full of general documents. But there's also a lot of information about all sorts of magic..."

"You have to take me there," Patchouli said with enthusiasms.

"Eh? But I have to ask permission from Admiral Lindy," Hayate replied.

"Then please bring me to Arthra tonight," Patchouli requested. "I try to convince miss Lindy to permit me to go to the library."

"You should let Pache visit your library," Remilia said as she went outside the living room, accompanied by Sakuya and Signum.

"Patchouli-sama gets very excited whenever she heard the term library. One time she went to the local library with miss Oriko and almost ended up staying there if it weren't for miss Oriko persuade her to go home," Sakuya said.

"I don't think there's any harm in letting miss Patchouli visit the library," Signum smiled.

"Alright, we'll try to ask permission from Admiral Lindy then," Hayate said before she turned her wheelchair around. "Shall we go then?"

"Yes," Patchouli and Signum replied. Then the three of them immediately left the mansion without further delay. Remilia and Sakuya only smiled towards each other before they went towards the dining room.

...

Nanoha and Fate sigh in relief as the dimension transfer magic circle dies out. The three of them had teleported to an apartment where Fate and Arf lived with Lindy at Uminari city. Some food wrapped in plastic wrapper were left on a dining table, indicating that Lindy had already left the apartment to go to work at Arthra.

"Nanoha," Fate suddenly spoke.

"Yes?" Nanoha tilted her head as she responded to Fate.

"Don't you feel like miss Oriko, miss Reimu and the others were keeping something a secret from us?" Fate asked.

"By us, you mean including Hayate and the others?" Arf asked.

"Yes."

"Well when you put it that way, they do sometimes reacted in a funny way," Nanoha said.

"Do you have a feeling like that, Fate?" Arf asked

"Yes," Fate replied. "I've started to notice this when the answer that miss Oriko gave to Signum was more detailed than what she told us. Moreover, miss Marisa suddenly interrupted miss Oriko's explanation before she could finish her sentences. The strange thing is that how did miss Oriko know the girl named Akemi Homura tried to kill her although she said that she never met her before. I feel that there's something that they didn't want us to know. The most important matter that concerns me is that why they didn't told us about that girl before."

"Let's not think too much about it," Nanoha said with a smile. "We can't suspect them for the second time especially since they went through a lot of trouble while letting us do our investigation."

"If you say so," Fate said before she walked towards the dining table. Then she turned her head at Nanoha and smiled. "Would you like to join us for dinner? I think admiral Lindy won't be coming home tonight."

"Yup," Nanoha said as she retuned the smile.

...

Lindy was sorting through some paperworks on her desk at her office when she heard a knock on the office's door. She rose up her head and looked at the door as she said, "Come in."

Hayate, Signum and Patchouli went inside the office as the door automatically slid open and slightly bowed towards Lindy. Patchouli could see Lindy's was neatly arranged, suited with her position as the admiral of Arthra. Not even a single paper was left scattering around her desk, showing that Lindy was the type of person who hate to leave everything all over the place.

"Is there something that you need from me?" Lindy asked with a smile.

"We're here to hand over the grief seed," Hayate answered with a smile. She slowly extended her arms to put the grief seed on Lindy's hand, who also extended her arms. Lindy took a few seconds to look and examined the grief seed before she finally put it down on the desk.

"Thank you," Lindy said. "Is there anything else?"

"Admiral Lindy, can you help us obtain permission to let miss Patchouli visit the infinity library?" Signum asked.

"Hmm, I don't think there's any problem with miss Patchouli plan to visit the infinity library," Lindy answered. "Just ask Amy to help miss Patchouli to request and register for TSAB's temporary identity card for accessing the library."

"Will it not cause any problem?" Hayate continued to ask.

"Yes," Lindy replied with a smile. "After all, I've been informed about miss Reimu and the others to the headquarter. They think there's no problem with miss Reimu coorperating with us as long as we didn't invoke any unnecessary problem."

"Don't worry miss Lindy," Patchouli said. "I assure you that we won't be a hinderance towards your investigation since all of us agree to help you and your subordinates."

"I thank you for your cooperation," Lindy said as she got up from her seat and bowed towards Patchouli. Then she looked at Hayate and Signum. "Can you bring her to Amy?"

"Yes," Hayate and Signum nodded. The three of them bowed again towards Lindy before they left the office. They did not waste any time and went directly towards the Arthra's main command room and it did not take them long before they reached the room. Amy noticed their arrival and curved a smile towards them.

"Hello there," Amy greeted. "What brings you three here?"

"Amy, can you make TSAB's temporary identity card for miss Patchouli so she can access the infinity library?" Hayate asked. "Admiral Lindy told us to ask your help."

"Alright," Amy grinned. "That'll be a piece of cake and it'll be complete within a few minutes."

"Thank you for your help," Patchouli said.

"It's nothing really," Amy said. "After all, you all are our comrades."

"I think we'll be leaving now," Hayate said as she looked at Patchouli. "You'll be able to get to the headquarter from here since there'll be someone who will send you there."

"Alright, take care," Patchouli said. Hayate waved at Patchouli before Signum and her left the main command room.

"Miss Patchouli, may I take some of your information to include into the identity card?" Amy asked.

"Alright," Patchouli nodded before she and Amy discussed details and information that Amy needed.

...

The pendulum clock at the living room inside Oriko's mansion rung as both of its hands struck at twelve, indicating it was already midnight. Hayate and the wolkenritter had already gone to sleep several hours after Nanoha, Fate and Arf left the mansion. On the other hand, Oriko, Reimu, Marisa, Remilia, Patchouli and Sakuya were gathering and sitting around the study table at the study room. Stacks of books that were on the table were cleared up to make rooms for teacups that Sakuya had prepared. It seemed to Oriko that Remilia really loved to have some tea whenever there was any gathering.

"You haven't told them anything right?" Reimu asked as she looked at Oriko. "Particularly details of Akemi Homura and especially the pink haired girl named Kaname Madoka."

"No I haven't since you told me not to," Oriko replied. "Although I almost reveal any of the secrets if it weren't for miss Marisa interrupted me earlier."

"You're welcome," Marisa said.

"Thank goodness this is one of the plan that was going well," Reimu sighed. "It'll be better if we try to retain any information for as long as we can before we can reveal more secrets."

"I hope miss Nanoha and the others wouldn't suspect us since sometimes we acted suspiciously," Sakuya said.

"I don't really mind for any of our little secrets to be revealed by them or any magical girls," Remilia said with a grin, showing her little fangs. Reimu looked at Remilia with a big sigh.

"That's easy for you to say," Reimu said. "But we're here to investigate the incident and not provoking any unnecessary fight between any of those magical girls."

"But we're already in the situation where we'll be in a big war," Remilia said.

"What do you mean, miss Remilia?" Oriko asked.

"That's for us to find out," Remilia grinned again as she gave a reply.

"I hope that we'll be able to investigate without anymore interruption," Reimu said.

"Yeah, although sometimes I feel that we do need some adventures and all that," Marisa said with a small laugh.

"You wouldn't want wish like that to come true, right, miss Marisa?" Oriko tried to make a joke. "Kyuubey might hear such wish and try to grant it."

"Nah, not a chance," Marisa grinned as she took out her mini Hakkero. "He needs to seek approval before he can grant any wish. If he insist in trying to make me wish something, I'll just blow him away."

Remilia smiled as she continued to take some sip of her tea that Sakuya just poured. While Reimu sighed when she heard what Marisa had just said since she thought that it was a foolish thing to say. Oriko only continued to smile at Marisa without saying anything.

"I think I'm going to sleep," Reimu said as she finally got up from her seat after the room went silent for almost thirty minutes. The moment she took a few steps, she suddenly lose her balance and was going to fall on her knees. But Oriko managed to grabbed Reimu and got her back standing on her feet. Marisa and the others only watched Reimu who looked like she was tripping.

"Are you okay miss Reimu?" Oriko asked in a concerned voice.

"I-I'm fine," Reimu answered.

"Hey Reimu, what just happened?" Marisa asked while letting out a small laugh. "I think this is the first time I saw you being clumsy like that."

"Shut up," Reimu glared at Marisa. "I'm just having a sudden headache."

"So the Hakurei shrine maiden suddenly become a clumsy girl," Remilia grinned. Reimu immediately glared at Remilia before she finally let out a sigh while scratching the back of her head. She knew that the conversation would not end if she said another word.

"I'll assist you to you bedroom," Oriko said. Reimu only nodded before she let Oriko guide her way out of the study room. The others only looked at the two of them disappeared after the door was being closed.

"That was unusual," Sakuya said. "Usually Reimu always reject help from other people."

"I guess she was too desperate to go to her bed that she forgot her normal attitude," Marisa made a joke and let out another small laugh before she got up from her seat. "Well, I guess I'll also be heading to my bed too. Goodnight."

Remilia and Sakuya only looked at Marisa who finally left the study room. Patchouli's absence in the mansion made the study room a little bit quiet, but Remilia could care less about the matter. They continued with their usual night activity that they used to do when they were at their mansion back at Gensokyo; Sakuya continued to served Remilia who was enjoying her tea in the calm night.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: The Fight**

Mami fixed her eyes at her reflection on the mirror as she put on her school uniform. After she made sure that she was in a clean and neat condition, she turned to look outside the window. Another tall building casted a large shadow upon the apartment where she lived as the sun slowly rose up the sky. She then looked at the table clocked located near her bed; it was still 7 o'clock in the morning.

As she walked out of her bedroom, she could smell the aroma of foods that were coming from the living room. She saw Alice had already sat down in front of the table, sipping her tea while reading a book. While Mami did was not really interested on the book that Alice read since the book belonged to her, she still wondered about the large book that Alice placed on the table near her. Not even once she saw Alice opened and read the book, let alone unlocking the lock that was tied to the pink had been already three days that Alice had been staying at her apartment and just thinking about that made Mami could not help herself from curving a big smile.

"Good morning," Mami greeted.

"Good morning," Alice greeted back while looking at Mami's smiling face. "It seems that you're getting more and more cheerful everyday."

"Eh?" Mami reacted in a surprise tone as she blushed while twirling her hair. "R-really? I thought I'm acting normally as always."

"Oh you are," Alice replied with a smile. "I guess my presence here had made you feel happy and cured a little bit of your loneliness."

"I guess so," Mami said. Her smile became larger as she looked at Alice's smiling face. She immediately sat on the floor facing Alice while a doll slowly approached her and poured some tea into a teacup for her.

"Where will we meet this afternoon for witch hunting?" Alice suddenly asked.

"Hmm, let's see..." Mami trailed off while she was thinking their meetpoint along with Madoka and Sayaka. "I think we'll meet at the front of my school. We'll go for the witch hunt immediately as soon as we all gather."

"Alright," Alice said. After Mami and Alice finished their breakfast, they immediately stood up and walked together towards the front door while several Alice's dolls cleared up the table. One of the dolls approached Mami with a lunchbox and handed it to her.

"Thank you for preparing lunchpack for me," Mami said.

"You're welcome," Alice said before she waved slightly at Mami. "Take care on your way to school."

"I will," Mami replied as she waved back at Alice. "I'll be going now."

After Alice watched Mami slowly closed the door, she waited for a few minutes before she also left the apartment.

...

"Good morning, Mami," A voice greeted Mami from behind. Mami could tell the voice belonged to Sayaka even without turning around to look at her, despite the hoards of voices that could be heard at the moment as lots of students were present around her. But she turned around anyway since she thought that it was rude to greet while her back was facing the person she greeted. She stared at Madoka and Sayaka who were walking towards her at a fast pace.

"Good morning, Mami," Madoka also greeted.

"Good morning," Mami greeted back with a smile. "It's quite rare for me to see you two on my way to school this early. Did anything good happen?"

"Well... Not really..." Madoka hesitantly spoke. It was Sayaka who spoke clearly in stead of Madoka.

"We've been watching miss Alice a little bit since two days ago, ahaha," Sayaka said with a small laugh while scratching her head. Mami was a little bit startled by Sayaka's confession.

"Do you mean that you two went to my apartment just to stalk on miss Alice early in the morning?" Mami asked.

"That's not it, Mami," Madoka tried to correct the little misunderstood caused by Sayaka. "Lately the two of us saw that miss Alice left your aparment and went somewhere else using a bus."

"I don't think there's anything wrong with that," Mami said.

"So who was the girl with white hair?" Sayaka asked.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Mami asked back.

"Well... we saw miss Alice met the girl in front of the apartment before they went to a bus station," Madoka answered. "We saw the same thing since two days ago. Even the girl came to meet with miss Alice earlier this morning."

"That's weird. I thought you know the white haired girl," Sayaka said.

"No, I don't," Mami said.

"That's a big mystery," Sayaka said with a big grin while putting her hand under her chin. They stopped their conversation about Alice as soon as they arrived in front of school's gate. "We'll be going to our classroom now."

"Alright," Mami replied with a smile. She looked at Madoka and Sayaka walked away from her into the school building before she let out a small sigh as she continued walking and went inside the school.

...

All of the students of Mitakihara Middle School stared at Alice who was standing in front of the school gate as they walked past her. Almost all of the male students were fascinated by her beauty, especially since Alice had a blonde hair and a pale white skin which was uncommon for them to see around Mitakihara city. If Alice only stood still without any movement at all, they felt that they were looking at a life-size realistic doll. By her look and appearance, they assumed that Alice was a foreigner. Some of them were pushing and whispering to each other, trying to approach and gain Alice's attention. While some had to persuade their sulking girlfriend because they had been staring at Alice for too long.

All the female students was also entranced by Alice's natural beauty; the beauty that all of them ever dreamt of having. Despite all those feeling that almost all of the students felt, their mind still wondered for the reason Alice was standing near the gate. On the other hand Alice did not paid too much attention to all those students apart from exchanging smile with every students that passed by her. Since she felt uncomfortable to wear different types of clothes, so she decided to wear her usual dress especially since her appearance did not bother anyone around her.

"Miss Alice," Mami called as she walked towards Alice.

"Ah, miss Mami," Alice said. She noticed that Madoka and Sayaka was not with Mami. "Where's miss Madoka and miss Sayaka?"

"I think they'll be here anytime soon," Mami replied. "Let's wait for them."

"Alright," Alice said.

Fifteen minutes had passed and they still had not seen Madoka and Sayaka coming out from the school building. Other students that left the school were getting lesser by each minute. Mami started to get uncomfortable with all the waiting as she shifted her body a few times, while Alice only kept silent while the remaining students that were involved in various clubs wandering around the school area.

"That's strange," Mami finally spoke. "Madoka and Sayaka hasn't been this late before."

"Maybe they've already left," Alice said.

"When you put it that way, I suddenly remembered that Sayaka didn't tell me to wait for them as usual," Mami said before she took out her cellphone. Since it was to make things easier for Madoka, Sayaka and Mami to communicate especially in times of emergency, they had exchanged phone numbers and mail address with each other. "Maybe I should give them a call."

Mami's cellphone suddenly rung while she was searching for Madoka's phone number. She looked at the display on the screen and it showed that the call was from Madoka. Mami immediately answered the call just to hear Madoka's panic voice.

"Mami, help us!" Madoka cried.

"What's wrong?" Mami asked in a serious tone. Alice noticed sudden change in Mami's voice and expression but she did not interrupt Mami even for one moment. She assumed that something had happened that made Mami became serious.

"Sayaka was attacked by another magical girl," Madoka replied.

"Who?"

"I don't know. The girl had red hair tied into a ponytail and wield a spear. She's too strong for Sayaka."

Mami widened her eyes as soon as she heard the description made by Madoka. She could not think of someone else other than a person that she knew the most that fit perfectly the description; that is Sakura Kyoko. At the same time she could not think of any reason Kyoko for coming to Mitakihara city.

"Where are you two right now?" Mami asked.

"We're quite far away from the school," Madoka replied. "I mean, we're were at a alley way between Mii's clothes shop and Eientei's cafe."

"I'll be right there so stay where you two are," Mami said.

"Okay," Madoka replied. Mami showed a very serious expression after she disconnected the call and put her cellphone back into her pocket.

"Is there something wrong?" Alice finally asked.

"The call was from Madoka," Mami replied.

"Is there something happened to miss Madoka and miss Sayaka?"

"Yes, they were attacked by someone," Mami replied. "We need to go to them as fast as possible."

"Is it far from here?"

"Yes, it's quite far. It'll take about ten minutes to arrive."

"I think we can go there using teleportation magic to save some time," Alice suggested.

"Teleportation magic?" Mami asked.

"Yes," Alice replied while she took out a spell card from her pocket and gave it to Mami. Mami looked at Alice with a confused expression the moment Alice gave the card to her.

"Eh?" Mami only utter one word before she set her eyes at the spell card. The card was beautifully decorated with an image of some sort of magic circle and various symbols that Mami did not recognized. Even the runes that were written on the card were different from the one that Mami recognized. "Miss Alice, what is this card?"

"The card that you're holding right now is called a spell card," Alice said with a smile. "Simply put, a magic spell that was engraved inside the card will be released when a person who possessed the card used it. I think you're the one who should use the spell card since you had some magical potential. Furthermore, you know miss Madoka and miss Sayaka's location right now. I'll hold on to your hand so that the teleportation magic will include me as well... I hope so."

"You hope so?" Mami asked while tilting her head.

"Never mind about that," Alice said. "We'd better go now before anything happens to miss Madoka and miss Sayaka."

"But I don't know how to use it," Mami said.

"It's easy," Alice said. "Just hold up the card and say these words: spell card! Transfer. Then you think and imagine the destination that you want to go."

"I'll try," Mami said before the two of them immediately went to an isolated place inside the school area.

"I think there's no one around here," Alice said as soon as she looked around to see whether there were any students near the area or not. Mami only nodded before she changed into her magical girl outfit and held up the spell card with her left hand, while Alice held on to Mami's right hand. Mami closed her eyes as she focused on the location that Madoka just told her before she finally opened back her eyes.

"Spell card! Transfer!" Mami shouted. "Alleyway between Mii's clothes shop and Eientei's cafe!"

A large magic circle formed below Mami and Alice as a white light wrapped around them before they slowly dissolved into small white particles. Mami could only see white and empty environment while they were undergoing the teleportation process. But it does not take too long before she saw the environment slowly changed into an alleyway. In front of her, she could see Madoka was staring at Alice and her with a surprised expression.

...

Madoka only watched in fear after she disconnected her phone call as she witnessed Sayaka continuously blocked incoming attacks from Kyoko. She could not believe that a magical girl that she and Sayaka did not recognize suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked Sayaka after the girl let a familiar escaped. Kyuubey who was sitting on the ground beside Madoka only kept quiet while witnessing the same view. As much as she wanted to stop the two magical girls fight, she felt hopeless especially since her path was blocked by something she thought as some kind of chain. The only choice that she could do was hoping for Mami to arrive at their location as soon as possible.

Sayaka was panting as she got up on her feet after she received heavy attack from Kyoko. Although Sayaka felt that she was at fault for starting the fight in the first place, but she could not stand the idea of letting the familiar escaped just to let it kill more innocent people and let it evolved into a witch. The thought made Sayaka seemed to dispute with Kyoko's ideal and Kyoko herself.

"Stop moving around, you freaking slowpoke!" Kyoko said with a grin as she continuously swung her spear at Sayaka. Sayaka could only continued to block the attack with her cutlass while moving backward. She wanted to respond to Kyoko's insult, but her mind could only focused on the spear that kept coming towards her.

"Sayaka!" Madoka shouted as she tried to get closer towards the chain barrier that Kyoko conjured earlier.

"Madoka, it's too dangerous to get closer," Kyuubey adviced.

Sayaka did not managed to counter attack as Kyoko detached her spear before the spear wrapped around Sayaka and smashed her onto a wall nearby. Sayaka gasped for air as she fell on her knees. She then immediately struggled to get up on her feet once again while looking at Kyoko with full of anger. While Kyoko only smirked as she watched Sayaka was getting beaten up. She thought that Sayaka was foolish to think that she would be able to fight against her. Madoka only kept watching the fighting scene that was going on in front of her before she and Kyuubey noticed a faint white light behind them.

"If you're so dumb that you don't get it when I try to tell you and you don't get it when I beat you down..." kyoko said as she reattached her spear. "... I'll just have to ki-"

Kyoko did not managed to finish her sentence as she and Sayaka also noticed the light. All of them quickly looked at the direction where the light came from and saw a large magic circle formed on the floor surrounded with white light particles. Madoka looked at the particles with a surpried expression as it quickly gathered and formed into two figures that she instantly recognized as Mami and Alice. After the magic circle dies out, Mami and Alice only looked at Madoka and Kyuubey for a few seconds without saying anything.

_I'm glad the teleportation spell card works on more than one people_, Alice thought.

"We're sorry we're a bit late," Mami said in a haste tone while looking at the barrier similar to a chain that formed behind Madoka. Beyond the barrier, she could see that Kyoko was standing in front of Sayaka with her spear on her hand. She assumed that they stopped fighting upon their arrival.

Meanwhile, Alice observed the barrier that blocked their path up till the top of the building. She thought that they had to fly or jump to pass over the barrier in order to help Sayaka. Since Kyuubey was present around, she felt like she would have a hard time deciding whether to use her magic or not. But at a situation like this, Alice had no other choice but to summon three dolls.

"Mami! Miss Alice! Please help Sayaka!" Madoka said in a panic tone. She felt a little bit relieved now that Mami and Alice had arrived. But at the same time, she was anxious as she was thinking about Sayaka's safety, whose life was in danger by Kyoko's assault.

"We'll try and do something about it. So don't you worry," Mami said before she transformed into her magical girl outfit. She conjured a yellow ribbon and used it as a rope to climb and jump over the barrier that Kyoko created, followed by Alice who slowly flew upward. Madoka watched the two of them with awe. She heart was filled with envy just by simply watching someone she knew had magical powers, making her had an urge to make a wish and form a contract with Kyuubey. But she forced herself to forget the temptation since she had made a promise with Mami and especially Alice that she would be patience and would not made a hasty descision.

Kyoko only looked at Mami and Alice slowly decended onto the ground before they stood straight and exchanged looks with her. Since she recognized Mami, she did not care much about her. Instead she looked at Alice with full of interest, thinking that there are a lot of new magical girl at Mitakihara city. At first she thought that Alice was Mami's sister or relatives since both of them had blonde hair. But she shrugged off the opinion because she remembered that Mami did not have any close nor distant relatives that would want to take care of her. She also remember that she did not saw anyone came to visit Mami even once when she was used to be Mami's junior. The most part of Alice that made Kyoko felt funny was the dolls that were floating beside her.

"I think I'll help Sayaka," Alice whispered. After Mami nodded in agreement, Alice immediately flew above Kyoko and went straight towards Sayaka. Kyoko did not bother to be on guard since her instinct told her that Alice would not attack her. Alice looked at Sayaka the moment she landed her feet on the ground and asked, "Are you all right, miss Sayaka?"

"I'm fine," Sayaka replied with a grin although she tried to endure and recover from the pain she received earlier.

"Well, well... look who's here. Mami and her another junior," Kyoko said with a smirk.

"Kyoko, it's been a while," Mami said. "Why did you come here? I thought that your territory is at Kizamino city."

"I'm planning to take over this city," Kyoko replied before she took out a pocky and put it inside her mouth. "After all, I'm sure that you're getting weaker especially since you're almost being killed by a witch. So there's no use for you to take care of the witches here. Neither are your juniours."

Mami went silent for a few moment after she heard Kyoko's remark. She did not expect that even Kyoko knew the story about her almost being killed. Mami suddenly recalled and remembered her memories of the witch. But she immediately shrugged off the distraction and focused back on Kyoko who was standing few metres away from her.

"I won't let you take over this city," Mami said in a very serious tone. "I know that you don't even care about other people. You just want grief seeds by making familiars kill humans."

"Yes, I don't really care about other people," Kyoko said with a grin. "I only care about grief seeds. After all, we need the grief seeds to replenish our magic and remove taints on our soul gem. So in other words, the lives that we've sacrificed doesn't go in vain. Killing all familiars means that we're limiting our grief seed's resources."

Alice only watched and listened to arguments between Mami and Kyoko without interrupting. She did not find Kyoko's plan to be fascinating since throughout her life, she had not harm nor kill any humans even once although she was a youkai. Alice noticed that Sayaka had suddenly stood up and conjured a cutlass, trying to attack Kyoko from behind. So she quickly summoned a doll in front of Sayaka, stopping her from continuing with her intention.

"Miss Alice, what're you doing!? Why are you stopping me!?" Sayaka asked in a dissatisfying tone.

"I don't want you to hurt yourself," Alice replied.

"I could've take care of her while she focused on talking," Sayaka said.

"Don't get too confident, girl," Kyoko said as she turned her face towards Sayaka. "I can manage to avoid you even if you try to ambush me from behind."

"Sayaka, don't do anything rash," Mami said. Sayaka was dissatisfied with Alice's action. But since Alice's doll was blocking her, it gave her a moment to take a deep breath and clear her mind. After a few seconds, Sayaka slowly felt calm and finally lowered her cutlass.

"Good decision," Kyoko continued to smirk before she fixed her eyes at Alice. "I think I should praise you for knowing your place. Though I do find your magic is a bit childish."

"Thank you for you compliment," Alice said. She started to get a little bit irritated after Kyoko insulted her magic, which was her dolls. "But I don't think that I need your opinion on my magic. I love my dolls and what magic I used is none of your concern."

"Whatever, rookie," Kyoko said, feeling a little bit satisfied after she saw Alice anoyyed expression. Then she looked and pointed her spear at Mami. "I'm going to take over this city whether you like it or not. This city doesn't need your protection anymore, after all."

"If you want all of us to keep any grief seeds that each one of us found, that's fine," Mami said as she conjured a musket. "But if you want a familiar to kill innocent people for the sake of making them evolve into a witch, then I don't have a choice but to stop you."

"I don't think such negotiation will work on me," Kyoko said before she dashed towards Mami. "But if you want to fight, then I'll be glad to do the favour."

Since Mami had already know Kyoko's fighting abilities, she managed to dodge her attacks. At the same time Mami also had a hard time targeting and shooting Kyoko with her musket since she was too fast for her. Every bullets that almost hit Kyoko were also being deflected by her spear. Mami tried to avoid from injuring Kyoko although Kyoko did not want to agree with the negotiation. But after seeing Kyoko's reaction, she had no other choice but to engage into the fight since she did not want her to let all the familiars went and killed innocent lives.

"Mami..." Sayaka muttered. She wanted to help Mami in fighting against Kyoko but she felt that she would only burden Mami. She clearly saw the differences between Kyoko or Mami's fighting capability and her that made her realized that they were on a whole different level.

Kyoko started to feel frustrated after she saw all of her efforts in attacking Mami were in vain. She started to set her eyes and dashed towards Alice without thinking any further, considering that Alice was a weak magical girl the moment she saw Alice seemed to be able to summon only dolls.

"Miss Alice! Watch out!" Madoka shouted. But she saw that Alice did not made any effort in dodging Kyoko's attack.

"I got you!" Kyoko smirked as she thrusted her spear towards Alice.

**Thud!**

Kyoko widened her eyes as she saw spear did not managed to hit Alice. Instead it hit kite shields that was held by dozen of Alice's dolls that appeared out of nowhere. Kyoko was certain that she used the same strength like when she first hit Sayaka. But Alice's doll managed to held it off although it moved for a few inches the moment the doll's shields collided with Kyoko's spear. Kyoko gritted her teeth as she quickly backed away from Alice.

Sayaka and Madoka could not believe their eyes that Alice could defend herself from Kyoko's attack only by using her dolls. They thought that Alice should not be able to block Kyoko's attack since she was a newly contract magical girl. Yet the magic capability that Alice just showed seemed to be on par with Kyoko or Mami.

Meanwhile Mami only observed Alice and Kyoko without making any movement, although her hands were still holding the musket that she conjured earlier. She was unsure whether she should help Alice or not, especially since Alice was a magician and a friend of Remilia, Sakuya and Vita. So she convinced herself that Alice could handle the situation.

Sayaka smiled the moment she saw Kyoko's spear was being deflected by the shield that Alice's dolls held. After witnessing Alice's strength, she believed that Alice could help Mami take down Kyoko. she could see that Kyoko's expression changed from being surprised to annoyed. At the same time, Sayaka was puzzled to see Mami only stood still without helping Alice. She guessed that Mami was surprised to see that Alice was as strong as her despite being a beginner magical girl.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked with a smile. "I thought you could managed to take down my dolls since my magic is too childish to you."

"I'm just getting started," Kyoko raised her voice before she dashed towards Alice again. She continuously detached and reattached her spear as she endlessly tried to attack Alice. Alice carefully observed and analyzed Kyoko's attack while she defend herself using her dolls. She could see that Kyoko was focused on delivering quick blow to make sure that she did not had the chance to counter-attack.

After a minute analyzing every attack Kyoko delivered, Alice finally decided to summon several dolls equipped with lance to surround Kyoko. Kyoko reattached her spear as she stopped her attack and quickly moved away from Alice while trying to dodge incoming attack from the dolls. Although she could avoid the dolls since their attacks was not too tense, she was annoyed that all of it slowly kept her distance from Alice. Alice's dolls did not gave any opportunity for Kyoko to charge forward to continue attacking Alice.

"Get out of my way!" Kyoko shouted as she swung her spear towards the dolls. She started to feel the anger inside her built up the moment she saw Alice was still smiling while engaging with her.

Her effort seemed futile since the dolls that defended Alice were able to hold her off. While the other dolls kept charging in towards her as it thrusts its lance. While Kyoko started to feel frustrated she could see that Alice's dolls movements were very organized and strategic, as if they were playing an offense and defense game. She could also see that Alice showed no intention and did not even take the fight very seriously. After realizing all that, Kyoko began to smirk before she started to detach and reattach her spear again as she charged towards the dolls with kite shields.

The speed of Kyoko's spear started to become faster and faster as Kyoko increased her agility, making Alice hard to dodge or defend herself with her dolls. Even her dolls with lances could not cope up to launch another attack on Kyoko. Alice finally decided to pull out a spellcard from her sleeve to make things interesting, but she did not managed to cast it as Kyoko break through her dolls and managed to slash on her body. Kyoko was still not satisfied that she was able to hit Alice only once, so she swung her spear again for the second time and hit Alice's knee, making Alice lost her balance.

Alice managed to regain her balance and slowly backed down. But she could not defend herself as Kyoko's spear suddenly wrapped around her body and lifted her into the air. She could Kyoko's smirk became larger before she was slammed hard onto the ground.

"Miss Alice!" Madoka shouted before she closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she opened back her eyes and gasped as she saw Alice was not moving at all after the impact.

Mami could see Alice's clothes slowly drenched with blood as it flowed out from her body. Sayaka widened her eyes as she could not believe what had happened to Alice. All three of them believed that everything that had happened in front of them occured for merely a second that it did not gave an opportunity for Mami nor Sayaka to block Kyoko's attack for Alice. Mami knew that Kyoko was fast, but she did not expect that Kyoko managed to hit Alice like that in such a short time.

Sayaka could not hold off her anger anymore as she managed to pass through Alice's doll that kept blocking her path and quickly dashed towards Kyoko. She did not care about anyone's advice anymore, especially when she saw Alice was lying on the ground in front of her eyes. But she did not managed to land a hit since Kyoko blocked all her attacks.

"Darn you! How dare you hurt miss Alice like that!" Sayaka shouted with anger.

"She deserved that because she's too arrogant," Kyoko said. She grinned with satisfaction after she managed to defeat Alice. In her mind, she thought that Alice was just pure lucky that she managed to block her spear up until now. "Just because she's able to hold me off doesn't mean she is stronger than me. So I've had proved it to her."

Mami quickly rushed towards Alice who was still laying on the floor and sat on her knees beside her. She could see that Alice was still breathing before she opened up her eyes and smiled. Mami became more concerned as she noticed that Alice's blood was still flowing out. So she casted a ribbon and tried to wrap it onto Alice's injuries. All of Alice's dolls slowly floated towards Alice and helped Mami wrapping the ribbon.

"She managed to hit me," Alice smiled.

"Please save your strength miss Alice," Mami said in a panicked voice.

"Where's miss Sayaka?" Alice asked.

"She's trying to stop Kyoko," Mami replied as she set her eyes at Sayaka who was still engaging on Kyoko. She saw that Sayaka was frustrated as she tried her best to land a hit on Kyoko but failed since Kyoko still managed to block all of Sayaka's attack.

"Don't worry about me," Alice said. "Go and help miss Sayaka."

"But I have to stop your blood from flowing out," Mami said. "Believe me, Sayaka is a strong girl."

"She's not strong enough to defeat miss Kyoko," Alice said as she slowly got up with the help of her dolls and rested her back against a wall near her. Then she looked at Sayaka before she turned to look at Mami. "You're her senior, so you should stop both of them before they hurt each other. Go on. I'll be just fine so don't worry too much about me."

"A-alright," Mami was hesitant to leave Alice alone just like that. But Alice smiled and nodded, indicating that she would be just fine. Mami immediately stood up and rushed towards Sayaka and Kyoko.

Sayaka gritted her teeth in anger as her effort to defeat Kyoko became more and more futile. Every swung of her cutlass was being blocked and parried by Kyoko's spear. While at the same time, Kyoko was able to knock her off a few time until she was panting heavily as she tried to recover from Kyoko's attack.

"What this?" Kyoko yawned. "You can't even put up a fight."

"Shut up!" Sayaka shouted before she started to dash towards Kyoko. But she immediately stopped as Mami stopped in front of her. "Mami, get out of the way. I need to teach her a lesson for hurting miss Alice."

"No, I won't," Mami said in a serious tone. "Miss Alice is alright. She wanted me to stop you before y-"

Mami was unable to finish her sentence before she could feel something was wrapping around her body. She immediately looked down and saw it was Kyoko's spear in it's detached form that was binding her. Then she looked at Sayaka and saw that the spear had also bind her body. Mami turned around and glared at Kyoko who was slowly walking towards them with a smirk.

"Finally I've managed to hold you two in one place," Kyoko said as she conjured another spear at her hand.

"What're you going to do?" Mami asked.

"I'm going to defeat you two and have this territory for myself," Kyoko replied.

Madoka felt helpless as she continued to watch Kyoko slowly approaching Mami and Sayaka. She also took a glimpse at Alice who was still resting her back against the wall. Then she looked at Kyuubey only watched the whole scene without saying anything. Everything that she had witnessed at that moment made her felt like she was suffocating, as if there were not enough air around her. She was breathing heavily and she could feel her heart was pounding fast like it was going to burst any moment. She felt the pain all over her body as her mind imagined everything that could possibly occur after this.

"Kyuubey, please help them," Madoka pleaded. "Make them stop."

"I cannot stop them as I don't have the power to do such thing," Kyuubey replied as he looked at Madoka. "Only another magical girl can stop them, and you have the power to do that."

Madoka started to feel a hope inside her heart. If she could wish to stop the fight in exchange of becoming a magical girl, then she would gladly to make such wish and save her friends. Then she suddenly remember her promise with Alice and Mami that she would not become a magical girl no matter what. But she could feel as if her heart was saying that she would make a wise descision this time.

"I got you two now!"

Madoka snapped back into the reality as she heard Kyoko's voice. Her eyes widened again as she saw Kyoko had already rose up her spear. But the moment Kyoko swung her spear towards Mami and Sayaka, Madoka saw a doll with a kite shield suddenly appeared in front of Kyoko to block her attack.

Kyoko widened her eyes in surprise the moment she saw the doll before she gritted her teeth in anger as she glared at Alice. Madoka, Mami and Sayaka also looked at Alice and saw that she had already stood up on her feet, although she seemed could barely maintain her balance.

"I thought I'm already through with you," Kyoko said as she started walking towards Alice. "I don't really like persistent girl like you. Since you're the one who's looking for another trouble, I guess I'll have to finish you off first."

Alice only smiled without saying anything. She knew that her action would anger Kyoko and ended up in another fight. But she had no choice in order to save both Mami and Sayaka who were still tangled with Kyoko's spear. Kyoko began to dashed towards Alice before she jumped up high, ready to thrust her spear on Alice's body. Seeing Alice's smile at that moment made her anger rose up as she did not find anything funny that made Alice smile to such extent.

"Kyuubey, if you really believe that I can stop this fight by becoming a magical girl..." Madoka finally opened her mouth, attracting Kyuubey's attention. She decided to make a wish and become a magical girl as shee could not stand by and watch Alice got hurt again, although her decision would break her promise. "Then I wish..."

"There's no need you to make a wish for their sake," a familiar voice suddenly could be heard by Madoka. In just a blink of eye, Madoka saw Alice disappeared from the place she was at the moment and reappeared near Mami and Sayaka the moment Kyoko's spear hit and smashed the floor. She also saw a figure that she recognized the moment the person appeared stood in between Kyoko and the other three girls.

Kyoko widened her eyes as the only thing that she saw around her was some flying debris that came off from the floor. She could hear a sound of a foot tapping behind her, like someone had just landed from the air. So Kyoko immediately looked behind her and saw a girl with long black hair, wearing a white and purple shirt, a purple skirt and a black pantyhose. Mami, Sayaka and Alice also looked at the newcomer who stood between them and Kyoko. They immediately recognized the person as Homura.

"Homura..." Madoka muttered. Homura only kept silent as she fixed her hair with her hand before she slowly looked at all of them.

"What the heck are you doing!?" Kyoko shouted as she turned and swung her spear towards Homura. But she was surprised once again when Homura suddenly disappeared from her sight and appeared behind her. Kyoko quickly turned around and walked backward away from Homura. Homura on the other hand only stared at Kyoko without saying anything. Kyoko glanced at Mami for a few second as the chain wrapped around her and Sayaka vanished before she asked, "So you've got another junior huh?"

"Unfortunately, she's not my junior," Mami answered. "She's someone unknown that had been in this city for a while."

"I see. So you're the one that Kyuubey mentioned to me before," Kyoko grinned. "The one that Kyuubey didn't even remember when he made a contract with."

"Don't you dare interfere with our-" Sayaka warned Homura as she walked towards her. But she did not managed to finish saying what she had in mind as Homura suddenly appeared beside her and knocked her from behind. Sayaka saw her vision started to become blurry before it went pitch black as she finally collapsed onto the floor.

"Sayaka!" Madoka shouted. Since the chain barrier that Kyoko had set up earlier suddenly vanished, Madoka immediately rushed towards Sayaka and sat beside her.

Mami started to feel angry the moment she saw Homura knocked off Sayaka. She conjured a musket and tried to aim at Homura, but Alice's doll blocked her musket. Mami looked at Alice who shooked her head, indicating that she did not want her to do anything. So Mami took the time to control her anger so that there would be no other conflict other that what they were facing at the moment.

Alice slowly got up on her feet and slowly walked towards Sayaka and Madoka. She sat down beside them and put her finger behind Sayaka's neck to check up on her pulse. After a minute, Alice curved a small smile and looked at Madoka and Mami.

"She's alright," Alice said before she stood up. "Looks like she's only unconscious."

"Really?" Madoka asked in a concerned voice.

"I agree," Kyuubey said. "Sayaka only went unconscious. So there's no need to worry about her life."

"What's with you? Whose side are you on?" Kyoko asked as she looked at Homura.

"I'm an ally to the calm, and an enemy to those who fight for no reason," Homura replied in her monotone voice. "How about you? Which side are you on, Sakura Kyoko?"

Kyoko was surprised that Homura knew her name. She remembered that she did not even mentioned her name to Homura. She tried to remember whether she met her before this or not, but she was certain that this was the first time she saw and met Homura. The only recent magical girl that she met was only Oriko and several other magicians if she could call them as such.

"Have we met somewhere?" Kyoko finally asked.

"Perhaps," Homura replied. Both of them only stared at each other for a few seconds without saying anything further. It was Kyoko who finally broke the silence and smiled.

"Well, it's certainly not like I'm wearing a nametag or something like that," Kyoko said. "I'll be leaving for now."

"A wise descision," Homura said.

After hearing what Homura had just said, Kyoko immediately jumped high and used her spear to climb the tall building around her. Madoka, Mami, Alice and Homura only looked at Kyoko disappeared from their sight, while Kyuubey only kept his eyes on Homura who did not bother to turn her face towards the four of them.

"You... saved us," Madoka gathered the courage to speak to Homura despite the cold attitude that she always received from her.

"How many times have I warned you? How foolish can you be?" Homura asked Madoka in a cold voice while she glanced at her. "There's no need for you to be involved in this. I've told you that repeatedly."

"I..." Madoka was lost for words. She did not know what answer should she gave to Homura since she knew that what Homura had just remarked was true. But she could not stand by and do nothing while her friends were stacking their lives to fight the witches.

"If I'm fighting a fool, I'll use any means necessary," Homura said. Then she turned around and glanced at Alice who was standing behind her. "That's what you get for being a hero. You're lucky that she didn't managed to kill you. It was foolish of you to think that you're able to defeat her with your magic and skill."

"Thank you for your concern," Alice said with a smile. "But this is nothing compared to what I've experienced before. The moment you know and experience what I've been overcome and went through all this time in my life, you'll be very grateful that you've only been in a fight like this."

Homura only stared at Alice without saying anything. She find that Alice was a strange girl since she was still smiling despite having an injury all over her body. Her only guess was that Alice may be experienced more horrible fight and injury that made her said that her fight with Kyoko was as simple as having a sport. She finally walked away from them and disappeared since she did not have anything much to say anymore.

"Homura..." Madoka muttered as she stared at Homura. She could feel something was odd about her, but Homura's cold attitude made her felt that she would only hurt herself and anyone she knew if she knew the reason Homura showed such hostility towards everyone.

...

"Arghh, I hate it!" Sayaka shouted as she clenched and hugged tightly a cushion while stomping lightly her feet several times before she buried her face onto the cushion.

Both Madoka and her were at Mami's apartment that night to help Alice bandaging and patching her injury, while Mami was busy preparing dinner for all of them. Alice did not want to summon her dolls to prevent Madoka and Sayaka from suspecting anything weird about her. Since Alice's clothes were drenched in blood and torned, Alice had to wear a blue dress that Mami had provided while waiting for her clothes to be cleaned and sewed. Kyuubey was also present at the apartment, staring at Madoka, Sayaka and Alice while sitting on the floor.

"It can't be helped," Madoka tried to comfort Sayaka. "Miss Kyoko was too strong for you."

"I can defeat that red haired girl if she didn't use too much trick," Sayaka said. "And thinking about Homura makes me really angry. Why did she have to show up and knocked me off!?"

"Maybe she didn't want you to get hurt. That's why she knocked you off so that you won't do something foolish," Alice said with a smile.

"I cannot accept that fact," Sayaka said before she stared at Alice. "Moreover, why didn't you take down that Kyoko girl? You could've defeat her easily if you're serious because I saw with my own eyes that you're stronger than her."

"If I lost then it'll be meaningless for me," Alice said.

"What do you mean by that?" Madoka asked.

"It means that if I used my potential to its fullest and still lost, then I will have nothing left in this world," Alice replied.

"If you lose, then you could improve your magic and strength," Sayaka argued. "That way you can be stronger than ever before."

"That'll be not an easy task," Alice said. "There's a difference between talent, hard-earned effort and easy way to gain something."

"But-" Sayaka tried to argue again but she was stopped by Alice. At the same time, she wondered what Alice meant by what she had just said.

"Let's not talk too much about serious matter," Alice said with a small laugh. "It'll only make you feel like an old lady."

Madoka only giggled when she heard Alice said something like that. Sayaka on the other hand only glared at Madoka and Alice before she sighed and finally curved a small smile. She did not expect that Alice could made a silly joke even when she was injured.

"So... How's your injury? Does it hurt?" Madoka asked.

"Well I'd be lying if I say it doesn't hurt," Alice replied. "But I can still bear with it though."

"I think I should use my magic to heal you since Kyuubey said that my magic specialty is healing," Sayaka suggested.

"Thank you for your offer but I don't want you to waste your magic on me," Alice said. "You'll just taint your soul gem more."

"That's right," Mami interrupted their conversation as she came out from the kitchen while bringing some dishes filled with foods and drinks.

"But miss Alice cannot hunt witches in her current condition," Madoka said.

"Like I said, don't worry too much about me," Alice said.

"I'm a little bit curious," Kyuubey suddenly spoke. Everyone looked at Kyuubey with a curious expression. "I was wondering about this the whole time miss Alice. When-"

"Kyuubey, I think its time for you to leave right now," Mami interrupted Kyuubey's conversation. "All of us will be having a girl conversations and you're not allowed to listen to it."

"I just don't get you girls," Kyuubey said as he leaped onto the window. "I don't feel anything even if I hear your conversations, but you still want me to leave if you're talking about something embarrassing."

"Just leave us," Sayaka said. Kyuubey took one last look at them before he jumped out of the window and disappeared into the dark night. Sayaka let out a sigh as she was tired of dealing with Kyuubey's persistent attitude.

"Forgive me if I'm rude," Alice said. "But I'm started to feel uncomfortable with Kyuubey. I hope that you wouldn't bring him near me again."

"We're sorry," Madoka said.

"It's alright since it's not your fault," Alice said with a smile. "What I meant by just now is that I hope you'll try to keep him away from me. I hate persistent creatures like him."

"We'll try to keep him away from you," Mami said. At that time, she was wondering about the reason Alice did not want Kyuubey to be around her. She guessed that Alice did not want her secret to be revealed.

"I wonder what question Kyuubey was going to ask at miss Alice," Madoka said as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Who knows," Mami said.

"Maybe he's trying to find out whether miss Alice had a lover or not," Sayaka made a joke and let out a small laugh. Madoka, Mami and Alice stared at Sayaka without saying anything for a moment.

"You've just made a silly joke," Alice said with a small giggle.

"You shouldn't made jokes like that," Mami rebuked.

"That's right," Madoka said. "You'll upset miss Alice."

"Arghh, I get it," Sayaka said in a grumpy tone before she stuffed her mouth with the food that Mami made. She immediately realized that her joke seemed had created an uncomfortable atmosphere for Alice.

"It's alright," Alice said with a smile. "It's good to know miss Sayaka still as energetic as ever."

Alice, Madoka and Mami looked at each other and sighed before they also started to eat the food in front of them. After they had finished their dinner, Mami stood up and brought all the dishes into the kitchen. Since Madoka felt that she did not have anything to do at that moment, she decided that she should help Mami in the kitchen. Sayaka and Alice only sat on the sofa while watching the television without saying anything. Sayaka occasionally glanced at Alice a few times before she took a deep breath.

"Miss Alice," Sayaka spoke in a low voice.

"Yes?" Alice asked as she looked at Sayaka. Sayaka opened and closed her mouth as she was trying to say something. But she finally decided to keep whatever she had in her mind to herself.

"It's nothing," Sayaka said as she grinned at Alice. Alice only tilted her head in curiousity before she set her eyes again at the television.

"Sayaka, I've already done helping Mami," Madoka said as she came outside the kitchen, followed by Mami. "We should head home now."

"Yeah you're right," Sayaka said as she stood up before she turned to face Alice and bowed slightly. "Thank you for helping us earlier."

"You don't have to thank me," Alice said. "You should thank miss Mami because she's the one who's worried about you two. I'm only there to assist miss Mami."

"But if its weren't for you, we wouldn't be able to be there on time," Mami said. "So we should thank you."

"If that's what you all think of me, then I will say you're welcome," Alice said with a smile. Seeing Alice's smiling face made Madoka and Sayaka felt a little bit comfortable.

"Then we're be heading home now," Madoka said as both Sayaka and her bowed slightly towards Mami and Alice. Mami and Alice followed the two of them from behind until they reached the front door.

"Take care on your way home," Mami said as she waved her hand towards Madoka and Sayaka. The two of them only smiled and nodded before they closed the door. Mami and Alice could hear their footsteps slowly drifting away as they walked farther away from Mami's apartment room.

...

Madoka and Sayaka only kept silent since they left Mami's apartment. Madoka only thought about whatever danger that they would face in the near future after they met Kyoko earlier that afternoon. At the same time, she was concerned about Sayaka everytime she took a glance at her. She felt that Sayaka seemed to have some long and deep thought while putting her hand under her chin.

"Sayaka, what're you thinking about?" Madoka finally asked.

"I thought you never ask," Sayaka grinned. It seemed to Madoka that Sayaka had something silly inside her mind that made her grinned. Sayaka suddenly put her hand behind Madoka's neck and whispered something to her. Madoka listened to what Sayaka had to say before she widened her eyes in surprise.

"Sayaka, we shouldn't do that," Madoka said in a panicked voice.

"Believe me, it's worth to try," Sayaka said with a big grin.

"I won't be responsible if anything goes wrong," Madoka said in an upset tone while letting out a sigh. It was a fact that Madoka did not want Sayaka to carry out her plan that would result in something unexpected that can endanger them. But knowing Sayaka's attitude, Madoka believed that Sayaka would not stop until she successfully carried out her mischievous plan.

...

It was a lovely sunday morning, but Mami sighed a lot as she was having her breakfast. Alice kept silent as she looked at Mami for a few minutes. She was wondering about the reason why Mami seemed to be troubled by something.

"What's wrong? Is there something bothering you?" Alice finally asked.

"Sayaka emailed me last night," Mami paused for a moment as she took a look at the email on her cellphone. "She said that she want to see me first time in the morning. She said it's important."

"I see," Alice said as she took a sip of her tea. "But you seem to be troubled by her request."

"Not really," Mami said. "But I'm worry that she will be doing something silly because she didn't tell me anything about the reason she want to meet me."

"Should I come with you?" Alice asked.

"You don't have to," Mami replied with a smile as she stood up. "You should rest so that you can recover from your injury."

"Okay, I'll see you later then," Alice said. Mami only nodded in response as she waved at Alice before she headed towards the front door and left her room apartment. Few minutes after Mami had left the apartment, Alice finally stood up and prepared herself to leave the apartment.

...

"Good morning Mami," Madoka greeted as she saw Mami walked into a cafe towards her. They had promised that they would meet each other at the cafe near Mami's apartment. Madoka was having her breakfast at that time while waiting for Mami's arrival.

"Good morning," Mami greeted back with a smile before she sat on an empty chair in front of Madoka. Then she looked around before she asked Madoka. "Where's Sayaka? I thought she's the one who wanted to meet up with me."

Madoka did not managed to answer Mami's question when her cellphone suddenly rung. She immediately grabbed and checked her cellphone. She kept reading an emailed that she just received before she curved a nervous smile. Mami tilted her head as she looked at Madoka with full of question.

"Sayaka just emailed me," Madoka said as she put down her cellphone. "She wants us to meet up with her."

"Where is she right now?" Mami asked.

"She went somewhere else," Madoka replied as she quickly got up from her seat. "Let's go, Mami."

"Wai-" Mami tried to speak but Madoka had already headed towards the cafe's door, as if she was trying to prevent her from asking questions. She started to feel curious the moment she felt that Madoka was acting all weird. But she had no choice except to follow Madoka to wherever she wanted to go. It was also to make sure that Madoka or Sayaka did not do something rash that would cause them trouble.

The two of them headed towards a bus station and waited for a bus for nearly a minute. As soon as the bus arrived, they immediately went inside the bus and headed to an area that was unfamiliar to Mami before they arrived at another bus station twenty minutes later. As soon as the bus stopped, Madoka immediately stood up and headed towards the bus's door.

"Where actually are we heading to?" Mami asked in a curious tone. She started to feel more uncomfortable when she saw Madoka's nervous and anxious expression. But her question were still left unanswered as they met up with Sayaka who was waiting for them at the bus station.

"You're late," Sayaka said.

"Sorry," Madoka said as she bowed slightly.

"Well, let's go," Sayaka said with a big grin.

"Sayaka, what're we doing here?" Mami asked as she grabbed Sayaka's arm.

"We're going to meet someone," Sayaka replied. Mami stared at Sayaka for a few seconds before she looked at Madoka. Madoka immediately looked away to avoid from making an eye contact with Mami. After seeing Madoka's reaction, is was clear to Mami that Sayaka was lying to her.

"Madoka," Mami spoke after she went silent for a few moments. Madoka jolted the moment she heard Mami called her name. She had no choice but to look at Mami. "Is what Sayaka had just said true?"

"Well... actually... we're trying to stalk miss Alice," Madoka replied. She finally gave up on trying to hide the truth. After hearing Madoka's answer, Mami looked at both of them with a serious expression.

"I can't believe that you're trying to stalk miss Alice again and this time you two involve me into your mischievous activity," Mami said.

"It's not that we're doing anything wrong," Sayaka argued. "We're just trying to stalk miss Alice and her white haired friend. We'll head back after we're done here."

"We're going back right now," Mami said as she turned around. The truth was that Mami did not want unexpected things happen to Madoka and Sayaka if they found out more about Alice's secret. "Let's go Madoka."

"I guess I'll be stalking alone," Sayaka said.

"Sayaka, I advice you to go home now," Mami said in a strict tone.

"Mami, don't worry too much," Sayaka said with a grin. "It's not that something bad will happen to us."

Mami only kept quiet without saying anything. She wanted to tell them the truth, but she was afraid that Alice would be angry with her for breaking their promise. Sayaka on the other hand only stared at Mami and Madoka before she walked away from them. Madoka watched Sayaka walked away before she looked at Mami. While she was concerned that Mami was angry with both of them, at the same time she was worried that Sayaka would get herself into trouble.

"Mami, let's follow Sayaka," Madoka tried to persuade Mami. Mami still kept silent before she finally sighed. It was the fact that Mami also getting worried about Sayaka and her stubborn attitude.

"Alright," Mami said. "You didn't bring Kyuubey along right?"

"No we didn't," Madoka replied. "I told him earlier that I need some time alone for now. So he stopped following me."

"Thank goodness," Mami said. The two of them immediately followed Sayaka from behind. They walked for almost five minutes before they finally stopped at a large mansion. Although the mansion was old and obsolete that it almost certainly looked like it was going to collapse anytime soon, it was clear to them that someone was still living inside it. Mami looked carefully at the name sign just before they passed through the front gate.

[Mikuni's residence]

* * *

**Afterword:**

Oh, hi. It's just been like a week since the last chapter. Now I've finished chapter 10, so I've decided to upload it a little bit early.

I've been reading all of the reviews that I've received so far. Thank you for all of your reviews. I hope I can use it as reference for my future writing. (0w0)b


	11. Chapter 11

Hello there. Fuh, I didn't realize that this story already had eleven chapter (including this new chapter). I expect I can finish the story with just like... twelve chapter or less. But it seems I've been writing each chapter too long or maybe just like one of the reviewer mentioned that the story was a little bit slow. Well, I've tried to keep the story short for this chapter, but it still ended up becoming a very long chapter.

Well, I hope you all will be able to enjoy this chapter as much as I do. Frankly speaking, I'm a little bit nervous about this chapter... X3

* * *

**Chapter 11: Confusion**

Madoka, Sayaka and Mami passed through the mansion's gate. While Sayaka looked like she was excited to stalk Alice, Madoka and Mami cautiously looked around to prevent them from being caught by the mansion's owner.

"Wow, this mansion sure looks creepy," Madoka said as she stared at the mansion that was rather old due to its idle appearance. "I remembered I saw in a news few months ago that all of Mikuni's residence commited suicides when Mikuni Hisaomi was found guilty for being a corrupted politican. But its garden was so clean and there not a single long grasses around made it looked like someone is still living here."

"Yeah," Sayaka said while putting her hand under her chin as she smiled. "Another mystery in our mind."

"Sayaka, are you sure that miss Alice was here?" Mami asked.

"I'm sure of it," Sayaka replied. "I followed miss Alice and the white haired girl right from your apartment until they passed through this mansion's gate."

"Sayaka, I think we really should stop stalking miss Alice," Madoka said in a concerned voice. "I don't really get the benefits from doing this."

"It's just for fun," Sayaka said with a grin. "Besides, I'm really curious about that white haired girl. I want to know the reason miss Alice didn't tell us especially Mami about her. Moreover, she kept her meeting with the girl a secret from us. That's make me want to stalk her. Maybe that girl was a ghost of Mikuni's residence."

"It's not nice to say that," Madoka said.

Sayaka only gave Madoka a silly laugh when she heard her said that. Mami let out a small sigh after she listened to what Sayaka had just said. While she did not care if Sayaka want to stalk someone else, she was afraid that Alice would got angry with her because she could not prevent Madoka and Sayaka from trying to reveal her secret.

At the same time, Madoka felt awry on letting Sayaka continuing with her plan. She knew that Sayaka would still try to stalk Alice no matter how hard she tried to prevent her from doing so. She was also worried that Mami would scold them later when they head back to Mami's apartment.

As they were walking slowly towards the mansion, they saw bright green light suddenly emanated from one of the mansion's window. Sayaka became suspicious of the light because she assumed that the light was clearly not coming from a lamp. So she immediately went towards the window and ducked below it. Madoka and Mami slowly followed Sayaka and did the same thing as her. As soon as they made sure that no one was around them, they slowly rose up their body so that they could see whatever was inside the mansion through the window. They immediately widened their eyes in amazement the moment they saw everything that was going on inside the mansion.

...

Shamal's clothes changed into her barrier jacket as the light of the magic circle under her fades away. Alice was sitting on the sofa while watching Shamal's transformation. She was being dragged into the living room by Shamal as soon as she saw how badly Alice's injury was. Marisa and Zafira were also present inside the room. While Oriko was in the kitchen preparing for some breakfast.

"Are you ready miss Alice?" Shamal asked.

"Yes," Alice replied. "Thank you for your concern about my injuries. You shouldn't go all the trouble just to heal me."

"It doesn't trouble me at all," Shamal said with a smiled before she looked at Alice with a serious expression. "You should've take care of yourself. Try to avoid from getting badly injured like this next time."

"Okay," Alice said. In her mind, she never thought that she would be scolded by someone for injuring herself. Judging from Shamal's reactions earlier when Alice arrived at the mansion, Alice guessed that Shamal was the type of person who was concerned towards someone she knew, especially when they were injured.

"Aha, Alice getting scolded," Marisa teased.

"It's none of your business," Alice said as she glared at Marisa.

"I'm going to cast my healing spell now," Shamal said. Alice only nodded before she stood up in front of Shamal. Shamal took a deep breath before she closed her eyes.

"Tranquil breeze, carry forth a blessing of healing," Shamal muttered rhythms of spells as a magic circle appeared below her once again. After she paused her chanting for a moment, she slowly opened back her eyes and continued, "Claire cure."

Alice's entire body was shrouded with green light and she could feel the tenderness of Shamal's magic. She could also feel all the pain that she felt at the moment completely disappeared, as if she did not experienced it at all in the first place. It did not took too long for all her injuries to completely healed up before the light that enshrouded her body dies out.

"I feel totally fine," Alice said as she looked around all over her body and did not saw any bruise and wounds anymore. "Thank you so much for healing me."

"You're welcome," Shamal said. "Just make sure you're be careful after this."

"Alright," Alice said with a smile.

"If only you can use your healing magic to help Reimu out," Marisa said as she put her hands behind her head. Alice looked at Marisa with full of question.

"What happened to her?" Alice asked. "I haven't seen her, speaking of which. Is she still dozing off?"

"Haven't Oriko told you yet?" Marisa asked as she looked at Alice before she looked at Oriko who was just entered the living room. Oriko was startled a little bit when Marisa mentioned her name.

"Ah, I guess I forgot to tell miss Alice about miss Reimu," Oriko said in a panic tone. "Miss Reimu had a high fever and is currently being treated at Arthra's infirmary room. Miss Shamal said that it may be due to fatigue because she's using her linker core too much."

"Linker core?"

"A linker core is an organ in our body which works to link and manifest mana generated within our body," Zafira explained. "So using it too much can wear ourselves."

"But Reimu didn't experienced such thing before," Alice said.

"Maybe it's because she's been constantly using her magic to create and kept the barrier that surround the mansion active all this time," Shamal said. " While I'm able to use my curative spell on her, but sadly she still have to take time to have some proper rest to gain back her strength as well as to restore her linker core."

"That makes sense a little bit. So does that mean this mansion doesn't have any barrier at all?"

"Nope," Marisa replied. "Patchouli's currently at a place called the infinity library at TSAB's headquarter. So there's no one who can cast another barrier spell."

"We can cast our barrier spell," Zafira said. "But as we mentioned before, our barrier is impenetrable by anything and we only have to use it during emergency."

"How about miss Hayate, Signum and Vita?" Alice asked.

"They went to convenient store to buy some cooking ingredients," Oriko said.

"I see," Alice said. "I hope no one saw us lurking around in this mansion or whatever we're doing."

...

"Wow! Did you just see that!?" Sayaka said excitedly yet in a low voice.

"Yeah," Madoka said. "So miss Alice's mother can use magic too. Not to mention that she's so young."

"I guess her family accepts magic without any problem," Sayaka said.

"We've already seen everything," Mami said. "Let's leave before they noticed us."

"Yeah," Madoka said.

"Alright, let's go," Sayaka said. But they did not managed to stand up as they were startled when they suddenly heard a voice behind them.

"Excuse me, may we know what you three are doing?" A voice asked. Madoka, Sayaka and Mami slowly turned around to look at the person who reproved them. It was Nanoha who was just arrived at the mansion, along with Fate and Arf. Nanoha looked at the three of them before she widened her eyes when she saw Madoka. Nanoha immediately ran towards Madoka and hugged her with full of excitement. "Madoka nee-sama, it's been a while. How are you doing? More importantly, what're you doing here at Mitakihara city?"

Madoka was surprised to see Nanoha hugged her. She was lost for words for a moment before Sayaka patted her shoulder. Madoka looked at Sayaka who seemed to have a puzzled expression at her face.

"Madoka, who's this girl?" Sayaka asked.

"I don't really know," Madoka replied. Then she looked at Nanoha who rose up her head at look at her. "Excuse me, but may we know who you are?"

"Madoka nee-sama, didn't you remember me?" Nanoha asked with a smile. "It's me, Nanoha."

"Nanoha?" Madoka tilted her head.

"Nanoha, do you know her?" Fate asked.

"She's Madoka," Nanoha replied. "She used to work at our cafe before she entered the Uminari Middle School."

"Uminari!?" Madoka said in a surprised tone. "But I'm a student of Mitakihara Middle School."

"You still have your sense of humor as always," Nanoha said with a laugh.

"I think you got the wrong person, miss," Mami said. "It's true that her name is Madoka, but she's really a student of Mitakihara Middle School."

"Eh?" Nanoha seemed confused with what Mami had just said.

"It seems you really got the wrong person," Arf said. Fate only smiled at Nanoha for making a silly mistake.

"But you're name is Kaname Madoka right?" Nanoha asked while tilting her head. She tried her best to remember everything about Madoka had said just before she resigned from working at their cafe. But Nanoha clearly remembered that Madoka said that she would be going to Uminari Middle School and she was sure of it.

"Yes, I am," Madoka replied. Nanoha once again looked at Madoka with full of question before someone opened the window that Madoka, Sayaka and Mami peeped into earlier. All of them looked at Marisa who was the person that opened the window.

"What's with the ruckus?" Marisa asked before she set her eyes at Madoka, Sayaka and Mami. "Eh? Who are you three?"

"Miss Madoka, Sayaka and Mami?" Alice was surprised to see them as she appeared behind Marisa to look outside the window. "What're you three doing here?"

Madoka and Mami looked at Alice with a panicked expression. Sayaka let out a small nervous laugh without making an eye contact with anyone around her. Alice let out a small sigh while staring the three of them.

"Oh, come on in," Oriko who was just went outside the mansion said with a smile. "We'll have some tea first."

"What should we do, Mami?" Madoka asked.

"I guess we'll have to accept their offer," Mami replied.

"I wonder if miss Alice will be angry with us," Sayaka let out a small laugh, trying to get rid of the tense atmosphere.

"This isn't the time to laugh," Madoka rebuked.

...

Madoka, Sayaka and Mami looked around the living room before they set their eyes at Oriko and the others who were sitting opposite of them. Their smiling face had created a comfortable atmosphere for the three of them. Even Alice did not show any sign of anger on her face. But none of them spoke for nearly three minutes after they sat down on the sofa.

"So..." Alice finally spoke. "How did you know I'm here?"

"Well, I followed you from Mami's apartment, ahaha," Sayaka said as she let out a small laugh.

"I see," Alice said.

"I'm sorry miss Alice," Mami said as she bowed towards Alice. "We didn't intend to interrupt your personal life. But we're curious that you left Mami's apartment every morning. That's why we followed you to this mansion.

"That's alright," Alice said with a smile.

"Moreover, we just saw your mother used some magic earlier and it was amazing," Madoka said with an enthusiastic tone.

Marisa suddenly snickered before she let out a loud laugh. All of them only looked at Marisa without saying anything. Madoka, Sayaka and Mami could see Shamal was blushing hard the moment she heard the word 'mother' coming out from Madoka's mouth. They could also see Alice sighed a lot as she looked at Marisa and them. The three of them then realized that Madoka had made a silly mistake. Madoka immediately looked down in embarrassement as her face started to become red.

"Bwahaha! That's a good one kid," Marisa said as she continued to laugh.

"Shut up Marisa," Alice said. "You're embarrassing them, especially miss Madoka."

"But it's really funny that they think miss Shamal is your mother," Marisa said with a grin.

"T-then... is she your sister?" Madoka asked.

"Nope," Marisa replied. We're all not siblings nor a family."

"We thought that all of you are a family," Sayaka said as she looked at Marisa. Marisa's laugh immediately died down and she looked at Sayaka while grinning.

"Nope," Marisa said. "We're just a group of people who gathers around."

"We're so sorry for the mistake we've made," Madoka said as she bowed towards Alice and the others. Mami only kept silent without saying anything. She did not know if she should say something without Alice's consent.

"That's alright," Alice said. "Everyone makes mistakes once in a while."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Mikuni Oriko," Oriko said with a smile. Then she gestured her hand at Marisa and the others. "This is Kirisame Marisa, Takamachi Nanoha, Fate Testarossa, Arf, Shamal and Zafira."

Nanoha and the others smiled and bowed slightly the moment Oriko introduced them. While Marisa only waved nonchalantly with a grin. Madoka, Sayaka and Mami were surprised when they heard Oriko introduced herself. They did not expect that a member of Mikuni's family was still alive and well.

"What's wrong?" Oriko asked. "Were you three surprised to see different people gathered here? Or were you surprised because I'm a daughter of Mikuni Hisaomi?"

"It's... ah... well..." Sayaka hesitantly replied.

"I guess the three of us were surprised when we heard your name," Mami said. "You see..."

"I know," Oriko interrupted with a smile.

"We're sorry for what had happened to your family," Madoka said.

"You don't have to apologize for something you didn't do," Oriko said. "All that had happened to my family was just a fate."

"Um..." Nanoha interrupted as she looked at Madoka. "Madoka nee-sama, are you really sure you don't remember me?"

"No, I'm sorry," Madoka replied. "I'm also sure that I haven't been to Uminari before."

"That's weird," Nanoha said while putting her hand under her chin.

"Maybe you should try asking your mother," Fate suggested. "Maybe you misheard what she told you before."

"Good idea. I'll try asking her later."

Suddenly all of them went silent the moment they saw a figure stood beside Oriko which they instantly recognized as Homura. She was holding a handgun which was pointing towards Oriko's head. Madoka, Sayaka and Mami widened their eyes in surprised to see Homura showed such hostility towards Oriko. Oriko and the others only glanced towards Homura without moving an inch.

"Homura," Madoka muttered in a fear tone.

"What're you doing!?" Sayaka asked.

"I advice you to keep silent if you don't know anything," Homura said as she glanced at Sayaka.

"So does that mean you know something that made you pointing you handgun towards miss Oriko?" Mami asked. However Homura only kept silent and did not answered Mami's question.

"I didn't expect that you're an accompliance with this girl," Homura said while glaring at Alice.

"I advice you to be a good girl if you don't know anything," Alice said. She could see Homura was annoyed by her word although she seemed to not show any common expression nor emotion.

"I know everything that you don't know," Homura said. Alice went silent as she was bored to entertain Homura's ego.

"Hey, isn't that thing dangerous?" Marisa asked with a smile. "I always saw in the television that thing created a loud sound like 'Bam! Bam! Bam!' and can kill people."

"It'll kill you if you try to show some resistance," Homura said. "Don't worry about it's sound because I've put a suppressor on it."

"Miss Oriko, who is she?" Shamal asked. Since they could not talk verbally, they had to communicate using telephatic magic that Shamal had set up.

"She's Akemi Homura, the one who tried to kill me before," Oriko replied.

"Man, just when we're having a good time," Marisa said.

"I guess she followed miss Madoka and the others that had made her discovered miss Oriko was still here," Alice said.

"It looks like we don't have a choice but to pin her down," Fate suggested.

"I'll try to request her to discuss things properly," Oriko said.

"I agree," Nanoha said. "We should try to talk properly with her again."

"Miss Nanoha, please protect miss Madoka and her friends. We don't want them to be injured."

"Alright," Nanoha replied. "But will you be fine?"

"I'll be fine."

"We'll try to cast bind at her the moment she was distracted if she didn't want to talk peacefully," Arf said.

"I'll put up an interdimensional barrier so that ordinary people wouldn't be involved in expected fight after this," Zafira said.

Oriko took a few deep breath as she slowly took out an item under her sleeve. Homura immediately went on guard before she saw the item that Oriko just took out was just only a card. She was wondering what the card that Oriko just took out was for. But for Mami, she recognized the card that Oriko held was a spell card and she started to focus and prepared for any unexpected fight.

"Spell card," Oriko muttered. "Celestial crystal."

The card that Oriko held glowed intensely with bright white light, making Homura backed away from Oriko. She could see several colourful shards formed around Oriko, each emitting a soft dazzling light. Homura quickly glanced at Madoka, Sayaka and Mami and saw the three of them were surrounded by a barrier that Nanoha had just created. Then she looked around her and saw that the environment had been enveloped by weird colour.

_I've never seen Oriko used such magic before. Moreover, she didn't changed into her magical girl outfit. I must stop her before it's too late_, Homura thought.

"Miss Homura, I hope we can talk and discuss any matter with ease," Oriko said. "We don't want to hurt you."

"I decline," Homura said before she activated her time stop magic.

...

**At convenient store (few minutes earlier before the interdimension barrier was activated):**

"Hayate, what's wrong?" Vita asked. "You've been spacing out a lot since two days ago."

"It's nothing," Hayate replied with a smile. "It's just that I felt like I've heard the name Akemi Homura before. But I don't really remember where."

"Maybe it's your childhood friend," Signum said.

"Hmm, I don't really think I-" Hayate paused as she suddenly remembered. She widened her eyes as she recalled her memories. "No, it can't be. It's imposibble."

"What is it?" Vita asked in a concerned voice. But before Hayate could answer, the colour of the environment around them suddenly changed and the people around them suddenly disappeared. They looked around cautiously and did not feel nor saw anything dangerous approaching them.

"I think Zafira's the one who put up the barrier," Signum said.

"I wonder if something is happening at the mansion right now," Hayate said in a concerned tone. "We need to head back now. Let's leave what we've bought here first."

"Alright," Vita and Signum said. Hayate and Signum nodded before they all changed their clothes into their barrier jacket and immediately left the convenient store. They immediately flew towards the mansion at a high speed while hoping that Oriko and the others are safe.

...

Homura glared at Oriko and the others as she slowly tried to struggle free from chain bind that Arf casted earlier. She did not constantly used her time stop magic during the fight because she knew that using too much of her magic would lead to unwanted consequences. But her descision had led her to be captured.

All of them were outside the mansion when the fight broke out the moment Homura decided to use a grenade that resulted in creating a big hole at the mansion's wall. Few minutes earlier, Madoka, Sayaka and Mami saw intense fight between Homura and Oriko who was assisted by the others although it was only for a short period of time. While they were protected by Nanoha and Shamal at that time they witnessed that Oriko and the rest showed a high capability of teamwork which were in perfect sync. It was no wonder to them that Homura was defeated that easily. Other than Oriko's fighting capabilities, they were awed by Marisa and the rest for having the ability to fly as well as high level of magic.

"Fuh, at last we finally caught you," Marisa said as she wiped out her sweat. "You really gave us a hard time with your bombs."

"I think we should arrest her this time for misusing her magical abilities in attempt to kill miss Oriko for the second time," Fate suggested.

"That's right," Arf said. "After all, we've been trying to locate her ever since Fate and Nanoha met her few days ago after but failed."

"I didn't mean to oppose you two, but I don't think that we should arrest her," Oriko said after she kept silent for a while.

"Why?" Nanoha asked in a puzzled tone. She was confused the moment she heard what Oriko had just said. She thought that Oriko would agree with Fate's suggestion and did not expect the opposite of it.

"I know that it's dangerous to let her loose, but I still want to talk and discuss peacefully with her so that I know the reason she wanted to kill me," Oriko said. "I don't want anyone to hate me anymore."

"If that's the case, I'll respect your descision," Fate said.

"I can't believe that Homura was defeated that easily," Sayaka whispered to Madoka and Mami. "I thought that she was stronger with all her teleportation magic."

"Yeah," Madoka said. "I hope they wouldn't arrest her like what they've just discussed."

"It was due to the fact that she was outnumbered that she could not managed to completely defend herself," Mami said.

"Well serves her right," Sayaka said. "That'll teach her for being so arrogant."

"Huh? I think I saw someone flying in the sky towards us," Madoka said as she pointed her finger towards the sky. Sayaka and Mami also looked at the direction that Madoka's finger pointed. The three of them including Oriko and the others saw Hayate, Signum and Vita were approaching the mansion at high speed before they stopped and slowly descended onto the ground. Madoka, Sayaka and Homura were surprised to see Vita as they immediately recognized her when she was with Remilia and Sakuya several days ago.

"Welcome home, everyone," Shamal said with a smile.

"We're home," Hayate said. "What happened?"

"The girl named Akemi Homura came and started attacking us," Shamal said. "But we've already used chain bind so she won't escape."

The moment Hayate heard Shamal mentioned Homura's name, she immediately turned around and looked at Homura. She covered her mouth with her hands as her body shakens before she slowly floated towards Homura.

"Akemi Homura..." Hayate paused for a second before she continued. "Is that really you? Are you really Akemi Homura?"

"What if I am?" Homura asked in her usual monotone voice. At that time, she was wondering who Hayate really was as she did not have any memories of meeting Hayate before.

"You're still alive," Hayate said in a happy tone as she slowly hugged Homura. Homura widened her eyes in surprise as she did not know what Hayate meant by what she had just said.

"Hayate, do you know this girl?" Signum asked.

"Yes," Hayate said.

...

After Zafira used his magic to repair the hole on the mansion's wall, all of them sat down on the sofa waiting for Hayate to tell her story. The interdimensionalbarrier had already been put down since the conflict between Homura and them had ended for a while. Homura was released from the chain bind after she agreed to dispel her magic. But she was under heavy guard by Alice's dolls in case she tried to start another assault.

"When I was admitted in Uminari Hospital three years ago, I've met Homura there," Hayate said. "At that time, she was also under treatment and was getting ready to go to other county for surgery. Homura was a kind girl and we quickly became friends. She visited me everyday and always cheered me up."

"Is there any reason for you didn't remember anything when we first talked about her?" Fate asked.

"Because it was quite painful for me," Hayate replied. Everyone's curiousity was answered the moment Hayate continued speaking. "After a month we became friends, she went abroad to other country with her father. But that didn't happened because the plane that she took crashed and all of the passenger died according to the news. The search and rescue had been trying to search for Homura's body, but they couldn't find it anywhere. She was my precious friend but the problem was that I don't know why I eventually forgot everything about her."

Everyone especially Homura were surprised by everything that Hayate had just said. Homura was speechless as she was trying to comprehend the fact that she had just heard.

"But she's here is still alive and well," Nanoha said as she looked at Homura.

"Yes, that's why I'm really happy," Hayate said.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not the one who you've met and became friends," Homura suddenly spoke. All of them looked at Homura for a few second.

"What this? You also forgot about her," Marisa said.

"I've only been admitted into Mitakihara Hospital before, but I clearly remember that I haven't even been to Uminari city nor had been admitted to the hospital there," Homura said.

"Maybe you're having amnesia, that's why you didn't remember about Hayate," Arf said.

"I won't say anything further because I've already explained it clearly to you," Homura said. "Explaining the same thing over and over again only wasted my energy."

"Hey, don't get too arrogant," Vita said. "You should know the situation you're in right now."

"Vita, it's not nice to say such thing," Hayate said with a smile while pinching Vita's nose. Then she looked at Homura and said, "I'm sorry for my family's behaviour, and I'm sorry for forgetting all about you."

Homura only kept silent as she stared Hayate for a few second. She could feel the kindness that Hayate showed towards her. But that kindness made her felt the pain the moment she glanced at Madoka.

"Madoka nee-sama, is there something wrong?" Nanoha asked as she noticed that Madoka had been staring at Vita the whole time. "You've been staring at Vita a lot."

"Eh?" Madoka was startled as she was noticed by Nanoha. "Well... Umm... The three of us saw miss Vita before with someone named miss Remilia. Since she's with you, does that mean..."

"I'm here as well?" A voice interrupted. All of them looked towards the direction where the voice came from and saw Remilia and Sakuya had just entered the living room. Remilia only grinned when she looked at Madoka, Sayaka, Mami and Homura. "It's been a while. It looks like you've got yourselves into trouble again."

"Miss Alice, why did you team up with them?" Sayaka suddenly ranted. "They're just like Homura who always showed off their arrogance."

"That's because I know Remilia and Sakuya well since we're 'neighbours'," Alice replied.

"Does that mean you're a vampire too?" Madoka asked in a surprised tone.

"No, I'm a youkai," Alice said. She knew that she had no other choice but to tell Madoka and Sayaka clearly. Madoka and Sayaka were surprised to hear Alice's confession. They did not expect that Alice was not a human despite her appearance. But they had no problem in accepting the fact since they had already met someone like Remilia or something like Kyuubey.

"That's... unexpected, right Mami?" Sayaka said while looking at Mami. Mami looked at Alice as she did not know what she should do. Alice only nodded with a smile, indicating that Mami could tell them everything that she knew about her.

"To tell you the truth, I've already know that miss Remilia, Sakuya and Vita is miss Alice's friends," Mami said.

"What? Then why didn't you tell us?" Sayaka asked in an unsatisfied tone.

"Because miss Alice want me to keep it a secret from both of you," Mami replied. "She didn't want you two to hate her if you knew she was related to them."

"I don't hate her," Madoka said. "I've seen miss Alice had been helping Sayaka and Mami a lot. So I believe she wasn't a bad person."

"I... guess I also feel the same way," Sayaka said while she crossing her arms in front of her chest. "If it weren't for miss Alice, me and Mami would be having a hard time dealing with someone named Kyoko."

"Kyoko!?" Oriko suddenly spoke. "You mean Sakura Kyoko!?"

"Yes," Mami replied. "Do you know her?"

"Y-yes," Oriko replied. All of them only stared at Oriko before Marisa finally spoke. It was clear to her that Oriko had been trying to remember what Kyoko had done to her.

"Well, let's drop this sentimental and tense environment alright," Marisa said. "It's bad for your health to be in this depressing and awkward situation."

"I agree," Signum said. "We've been talking about serious matter for quite a time."

"Not to mention we haven't had our breakfast yet," Oriko said as she tried to smile. Then she looked at Madoka, Sayaka and Mami. "Since you've come all the way to my mansion, do you want to join us for breakfast?"

"Are you sure?" Sayaka asked.

"Yes."

"But we've troubled you enough," Mami said.

"That's alright. It can't be helped," Oriko said before she looked at Homura. "How about you? Do you have time to join in as well?"

"I refuse," Homura said.

"Come on," Marisa said. "It's not like we're going to put some poison into your food."

"It's alright miss Marisa," Oriko said. "We can't force her to agree."

"Oh? Some new faces... and Akemi Homura," all of them suddenly heard a voice as the door was opened by someone. They looked towards the door and saw Reimu was standing while crossing her hands in front of her chest while sighing. "I've only been away for a day or two and you all already got yourselves into trouble."

"It's not like we wanted all this to happen," Alice argued.

"Miss Reimu, how's your fever?" Nanoha asked.

"I'm feeling all good now after I've took a sleep and some medication," Reimu said. "Thank you so much for letting me stay at Arthra and gave me some medical treatment."

"You should thank admiral Lindy since she's the one who suggested that you should rest there," Fate said.

"I've already thanked her," Reimu said with a smile.

"Umm, miss Alice. Who is she?" Mami who was sitting near Alice asked.

"She's Reimu," Alice replied.

"Why is she dressed like a shrine maiden?" Sayaka asked. "Is she cosplaying?"

"That's because I really am a shrine maiden," Reimu interrupted before Marisa could replied. "I don't know what cosplaying mean, but I'm a hundred percent shrine maiden."

"Yeah, you're really are a shrine maiden and you repeated it twice," Marisa said with a sigh.

"Does that mean you have magical abilities too?" Madoka asked Reimu.

"Yeah, as a yokai exterminator," Reimu replied.

"Wow," Madoka said in an excited tone. "But does that mean you will exterminate kind-hearted youkai like miss Alice?"

"No, I don't," Reimu replied. "But I beat someone like her if I have to."

"Only a greater fool would say something like that," Alice said with a sigh.

"I'm telling the truth here," Reimu argued. "I'll just beat any misbehaving youkai if they create some ruckus at Gensokyo."

"Gensokyo? What's that?" Nanoha asked.

"Okay, enough of this endless conversation. Let's have our breakfast because I'm getting really hungry," Marisa suddenly tried to divert the conversation as she stood up and headed towards the door.

"Me too," Remilia said. Nanoha and the others also stood up from their seat and slowly left the living room. Alice led Madoka, Sayaka and Mami who were seemed clueless to follow them so that the three of them did not feel awkward and uncomfortable. The only one left inside the living room was Reimu, Oriko and Homura. Although Alice had left the living room, but her dolls were still guarding around Homura.

"Are you sure that you don't want to join us?" Oriko asked with a smile. However Homura did not immediately answer Oriko's question as she gave it a thought. "If you want to leave the mansion, at least let me lead you until outside the mansion."

"I've decided to join you for breakfast, but that doesn't mean I trust you," Homura finally replied.

"I understand," Oriko said. "Perhaps it's because you want to keep your eyes on us because miss Madoka is here to be precise. Don't worry about her. If I were to harm miss Madoka, I would've done that earlier of before this."

"Then there's no reason for me to say anything furthermore," Homura said as she stood up. Oriko led Homura to the dining room followed by Reimu from behind. Reimu slowly approached Homura from behind and whispered quietly so that Oriko did not noticed.

"I hope you won't do anything rash after this," Reimu said. "We'll let you off again this time, but make use of this chance to be a good girl. If you don't, then I have no choice but to teach you a lesson."

Homura did not say anything although she did not ignored what Reimu had just whispered to her. She knew what Reimu meant and she could feel that Reimu was serious about it. At the same time, she realized Oriko that she met this time was not the same Oriko that she met in the previous timeline. She assumed that it had something to do with Reimu and the other's appearance in the current timeline she was in this time. Although she still had some doubt inside her heart about Oriko's change of attitude, but she decided to only observe her without taking any action as long as Oriko did not show any sign of trying to harm Madoka.

...

**At Arthra (2 PM):**

"Admiral, we've received a full report of the new data of the witches that Hayate sent to us two days ago," Chrono said as he approached Admiral Lindy who was sitting on her chair at the Arthra's bridge.

"So is there any new results?" Lindy asked.

"Surprisingly the new data showed the same result that we got from the one that Nanoha sent us a week ago."

"You mean it still showed a wavelength similar to a subconscious mind that any creature have?"

"Yes."

"I see," Lindy put her hand under her chin as she was in a deep thought. "How about the grief seeds? Do we have any results from it?"

"Speaking of it, I've receive its report just now," Amy said as she constantly pressed the computer keyboard in front of her. "I'm going to show it to the main screen."

Several window appeared on the Arthra's computer main screen, showing details of data of grief seed that the Arthra's research and investigation team had been researching. Lindy constantly read the details of the report before she widened her eyes. All the members present at the control room including Chrono and Amy also widened their eyes as they could not believed the data that they just read.

"W-what is this!?" Lindy gasped.

"Is there some kind of error in this data?" Chrono asked.

"I'll try contacting the research and investigation team," Amy said. Less than a few seconds they were in contact with the head of the team, Roux.

"Is there something wrong?" Roux asked.

"Roux, is there some kind of mistakes in the data about the grief seed?" Lindy asked.

"Unfortunately there's none," Roux replied. "I know the result of the data is impossible, but that's what we've obtained when we've tried to do some comparison."

"This is truly not making any sense," Chrono said.

"Like I said, that's the result that we've obtained."

"I think we should discuss about this before we'll let miss Reimu, Nanoha and the others know about this matter," Lindy said.

"Alright," Roux replied before he disconnected the video connection.

"This matter is getting more confusing and harder to undertand," Amy said.

"I hope this matter wasn't something serious," Lindy muttered as she finished her tea before she got up from her chair and left the bridge, followed by Chrono.

...

"This world is a mystery," Madoka muttered as she let out a sigh. It was already night time at Mitakihara city and she was lying on her bed while staring the ceiling. Her mind kept wondering everything that had happened that morning. Although she was able to accept everything especially about Alice being a youkai, but she could not help but to think the reason why Alice tried to stop he from being a magical girl. Madoka snapped back into the reality as soon as she heard Kyuubey's voice.

"Madoka! You have to hurry!" Kyuubey said. "Sayaka's in trouble!"

"What happened to Sayaka?" Madoka asked as she jolted up from her bed.

"She's going to fight Kyoko again," Kyuubey said. "They're heading somewhere right now. You must stop her before it's too late."

"Have you told Mami?" Madoka asked.

"No, I couldn't find her anywhere," Kyuubey replied.

"Alright. I'll try calling her," Madoka said. She quickly reached her cellphone and dialled Mami's phone number. It did not took long for her call to be picked up by Mami.

"Hello," Mami spoke. "Madoka, what's wrong? Is there something you want from me?"

"Mami! Sayaka's going to fight Kyoko again!" Madoka said.

"What!?" Mami said in a surprised tone. "Where is she right now?"

"I don't know because I'm still at home. I'll call you again later," Madoka replied.

"Alright, just let me know when you found her," Mami said.

"Okay," Madoka said. She disconnected the call and immediately left her house. She had to make sure that her parents did not saw her went outside the house before she started running towards the place that Kyuubey led her at that moment.

...

**At Oriko's mansion (at the same time):**

Mami made a small sigh after she disconnected the phone call. All of the resident of Oriko's mansion looked at her as they were waiting for her to say something. They could see Mami's expression changed the moment she was talking to Madoka on her cell phone. That night Mami went to Oriko's mansion with Alice to ask Oriko anything she knew about Kyoko other than the fact that she started to become interested in Alice and the other's magic abilities.

"Miss Mami, is there something?" Oriko asked.

"Sayaka's going to fight Sakura Kyoko again," Mami said. "I'm sorry, but I must leave right now. I have to stop them before they kill each other."

"I'm coming with you," Oriko said hastily.

"But..."

"I want to stop miss Kyoko. I don't want her to hurt anyone again. Please let me come with you."

"Alright," Mami said. "But I have to wait for Madoka to call me again because I don't know where they are right now."

Mami's cell phone rang few minutes later and she immediately picked up the call. After she heard details of Sayaka's location, Mami disconnected the call and looked at Reimu and the others.

"Madoka had located Sayaka's location. They're currently heading towards a pedestrian bridge above Mitakihara Highway. We need to go there fast."

"I'll use my teleportation magic," Signum volunteered. "That way we can save time rather than we run towards the location."

"I'll join in as well," Reimu said.

"You'll stay home," Marisa said with a grin. "You're still lack of energy."

"No, I'm not," Reimu argued.

"I think it's best for you to get some rest miss Reimu," Shamal said. "We don't want you to fell sick again."

"Fine," Reimu said in an annoyed tone. Marisa only looked at Reimu with a sigh.

"Is it going to be alright with only the four of you?" Hayate asked.

"We're going to be fine," Oriko said. "We're just only going to stop them."

"Alright, just be careful," Hayate said. The four of them nodded before they stood up from their seat and gathered in one place. Oriko, Signum and Mami changed into their magical outfit and barrier jacket before Signum concentrated her magic.

"Dimensional transfer, Mitakihara Highway," Signum ordered her Laevatein.

[_Dimensional Transfer_]

Magic circle formed under the four of them before they slowly vanished into the thin air. The rest watched them disappeared from their sight before Marisa stretched her body.

"I wonder why did miss Kyoko came to this city?" Hayate muttered.

"Who knows," Alice said.

"I hope all of them will be alright," Shamal said.

"Signum's with them," Vita said. "There shouldn't be a problem."

...

The sound of vehicals could be heard as Kyoko and Sayaka stood opposite of each other on the pedestrian bridge. Sayaka really hated Kyoko everytime she saw her smirking face especially since she was provoked earlier and even tried to harm Kyousuke. She felt that she should not back down or hold back her strength to fight Kyoko from then on.

"We won't have to hold back up here so let's go all out," Kyoko said before she changed her clothes into her magical outfit. Sayaka glared Kyoko and slowly stretched up her left arm as she was getting ready to transform.

"Wait, Sayaka!" Madoka shouted as soon as she arrived at the bridge.

"Madoka!?" Sayaka said in a surprised tone as she glanced at Madoka and the others before she looked back at Kyoko. "Stay out of this! It's none of your business!"

"No! This just isn't right!" Madoka argued.

"Huh! Birds of a feather really annoys me," Kyoko said with a smirk as she pointed her spear at Sayaka and Madoka.

"Then what would that make you as friends?" A voice asked. Kyoko startled for a moment before she looked back and saw Homura was standing behind her. "This isn't what we've agreed upon. I've told you not to lay a finger on Miki Sayaka."

"You're too soft-hearted," Kyoko rebuked. "It doesn't matter to me though. She's also after me too."

"Then I'll take you on and I won't hold back," Homura said as she appeared beside Kyoko.

"Fine, as soon as I'm done eating," Kyoko joked with her uninterested/bored expression.

"Very well."

"Hey, I'm right here you know! I'll fight both of you right here and right now!" Sayaka said. But before Sayaka could transform, Madoka suddenly ran towards her and took her soul gem. She immediately ran towards the edge of the bridge and held up both of her arms.

"Sorry, Sayaka!" Madoka said as she started to drop the soul gem.

"DON'T DROP IT!" A loud voice could be heard by Madoka and the others. They looked towards the direction where the voice came from and saw it was Oriko, along with Mami, Marisa and Signum. Oriko saw in her claivoyance earlier that Sayaka's gem would shattered into pieces the moment it smashed onto the ground. However the four of them had arrived too late to stop Madoka from throwing Sayaka's soul gem.

"Huh?" Madoka only uttered one word while looking at Oriko as the soul gem slipped from her hands.

But the moment she turned back around, she saw a hand had reached and firmly grabbed/took the soul gem. Madoka slowly looked at the owner of the hand and saw two young girls she had never seem before was floating in the air. One of the girls had a short wavy pink hair and maroon eyes. She was wearing a light blue and white kimono with dark blue trim and white designs, a blue mob cap with a veil and a white piece of triangular cloth with a strange marking attached to it. Madoka could also see something like a small white flame surrounded the girl.

The other girl had a short silver hair with a black ribbon tied off-centre and a pair of bright red eyes. She wore a dark green and white dress, and carried a pair of long katana at the back of her waist. She also had something like a large white cloud floating around her.

"My, my. You shouldn't play around with a soul or it'll result in death," the purple haired girl said with a smile. Madoka did not understand what the girl meant by what she had just said. The girl then looked at Sayaka and said, "Your soul is surely beautiful, yet lonely."

"Wha-?" Sayaka was lost for words.

"Yuyuko!? Youmu!?" Marisa suddenly spoke in a surprised tone. Everyone looked between Marisa and the two girls in silence. "What're you two doing outside Gensokyo?"

"Oh hi there Marisa," Yuyuko said as she waved at Marisa."I'm here to deliver all of the small black orb that we've been collecting because Yukari asked me to. Moreover, I wanted to take a good look at the world outside."

"Huh, I see," Marisa muttered.

"Hey! What do you mean by soul!?" Sayaka asked in a high yet curious tone.

"Hmm? Don't you know that this little stone here is your soul?" Yuyuko asked back as she stretched out her hand that was holding Sayaka's soul gem. Yuyuko's simple word alone had surprised everyone.

"H-how did you know that?" Madoka stuttered as she asked. She could feel her body shook as if she would collapsed on her knees any moment.

"Mi'lady is the princess of the departed spirit," Youmu replied. "She could easily see a soul everywhere and anytime she want."

"Princess of the dead!?" Madoka asked in a surprised tone. "Does that mean that she's a..."

"Yes," Yuyuko interrupted as she knew what question would come out from Madoka's mouth. "I'm a ghost, while Youmu is a half-human and half-phantom."

"That's not true!" Sayaka spoke as she argued. "It's impossible that my soul gem is my soul because I'm here."

"Then why did this stone is called a soul gem like you've just clarified?" Yuyuko asked with a smile as she looked at Sayaka.

Sayaka could not answer the question before she widened her eyes as she felt that the question itself was the answer. She did not even realized nor thought about the reason the soul gem was called as such. She immediately looked at Mami and Madoka who were also looked shocked. Then she glared towards Kyuubey who was sitting on the ground near her.

"Hey... Kyuubey... Tell me this isn't true..." Sayaka's voicd shakens as it slowly getting loud. "Tell me that my soul gem is not my real soul... TELL ME!"

"Unfortunately, it's just like the girl said," Kyuubey replied. "Your soul gem is your real soul. You body is merely just an empty shell. I'd never be able to ask you to fight witches if you'll die easily. So to make sure you'll be able to use magic, I simply grant your soul in a compact and new form. When you made a contract with me, my job is to rip out your soul and turn it into a soul gem."

"No..." Sayaka muttered as she took a step backward.

Mami widened her eyes before fall on her knees and put her hands on her head as she felt sudden headache. Her mind could not comprehend the truth that Kyuubey had just revealed. Madoka put her hands on her mouth as if she tried to prevent herself from saying anything. She felt that it was her fault that Sayaka was almost got killed because of her action. Oriko clenched her hands as she did not know what she should do. Homura, Signum and Reimu only watched the whole scene without saying anything.

"Darn you!" Kyoko spoke after she finished hearing Kyuubey's explanation. She walked towards Kyuubey and grabbed him on his head. "Give me a break! You've turned us into zombies!"

"But isn't it convenient?" Kyuubey asked. "Even if your heart is crushed or you bleed till your last drop of blood, your body can be repaired with magic and can be used again. As long a your soul gem isn't broken, you're invincible. It's much better for fighting all the witches using body like that rather than your fragile human form."

"You've tricked us!" Mami who was already in her magical outfit suddenly appeared beside Kyoko, holding a musket which was aimed at Kyuubey. Kyoko could see Mami's eyes were filled with anger and hatred although it was overflowing with tears.

"You magical girl are always like this," Kyuubey said. "You have the same reaction whenever you learn the truth. I don't really get it. Why do humans all have such problem with where their soul end up?"

"I'm gonna kill you," Mami said. She tried to pull the trigger but she hand was shaking badly that she could not aim properly. Suddenly Youmu grabbed and slowly lowered Mami's hand. Mami looked at Youmu and reproved her, "Why did you stop me?"

"Because it's useless for you to try to kill that creature," Youmu replied.

"That's right," Yuyuko said. "That creature didn't even have any soul attached to it's body."

"What!?" Mami said in a surprise tone as she looked at Yuyuko before she turned to look back at Kyuubey.

"It's just like the girl said," Kyuubey replied. "I don't know how she knew my secret, but my body is also merely an empty shell. Even if you 'kill' me, I'll just use my spare body."

"This can't happening..."

"It is," Yuyuko said as she pointed her finger towards Homura. Homura was a little bit startled by Yuyuko's action, but she managed to control her expression. "If you don't believe me, then ask her."

"I don't see any reason for anyone to ask me something I don't know," Homura said.

"I wouldn't tell them to ask you if you don't know anything," Yuyuko said. "Perhaps I should show everything about the truth of this world... and the truth about yourself."

Homura clenched her fist after she heard what Yuyuko had just said. She had a thought of trying to attack her or run away, but her body was suddenly wrapped with Kyoko's spear. She looked at Kyoko who suddenly dashed towards her as she was trying to break free.

"Darn you! You knew all of this but you didn't told us!? That's why you wanted to team up with me so that you can watch me die!?" Kyoko shouted. She tried to slash Homura, but she did not managed to land her attack as Oriko suddenly appeared out of nowhere and blocked her spear using her shield.

"Miss Kyoko, please stop," Oriko pleaded.

"Out of my way!" Kyoko shouted. Oriko tried her best to hold off Kyoko's spear, but Kyoko's strength was too strong for her to endure that she finally tumbled backward onto the floor as her shield shattered. Kyoko started to feel annoyed that she immediately thrust her spear towards Oriko's soul gem. "I'll kill you first."

Oriko did not managed to create another shield nor use a spell card. She could see that neither Mami, Sayaka nor Youmu showed any sign of trying to help her. Marisa and Signum was far away to be able to help her in an instant since the spear was too fast, even though Signum could cast a barrier or a bind. Madoka only widened her eyes while holding her breath as she could not imagine whatever will happen few seconds after that. Oriko could also see that Yuyuko only stared at her with a smile. She then had no choice but tried to block the Kyoko's spear with her hands.

Kyoko did not managed to land her attack as her spear was suddenly blocked by a long claw. Kyoko immediately looked up and saw a girl standing between Oriko and her. She had a short black hair and wore an eye-patch, a black and white shirt, and a red tie. Its sleeves were long enough that it completely covered her hands. The girl looked at Oriko for a few seconds before she turned her face to look at Kyoko with a smirk.

"Hey, hey. It's not nice to hurt my friend like that," the girl said.

"What!? Who're you?" Kyoko asked in an annoyed tone.

"I'm Oriko's friend," the girl replied. Kyoko was not satisfied that her attack was blocked, so she pulled her spear and tried to attack the girl. But once again she could not land her attack as a chain bind appeared and binded her body, restricting her movement. Kyoko gritted her teeth in an annoyed expression.

"Darn it! Why did all of you stop me!?" Kyoko shouted as she looked at Marisa and Signum. Marisa let out a sigh as she walked towards Kyoko and smacked her at the head. Kyoko felt dizzy for a few second as she tried to speak, "Why did you do that for!?"

"Man, you should cool off a bit," Marisa said while scratching the back of her head. "Sheesh, you kids sure are too hot-blooded and easily went angry."

"I agree," Signum said.

"Me too," Yuyuko said as she let out a small giggle.

"Hey, it's your fault that caused all this commotion," Marisa said.

"I had no other choice or else you all won't be able to prepare yourself since the time is running out," Yuyuko said.

"P-prepare for what?" Madoka stuttered as she asked a question.

"I'll explain everything but we need to go back to the mansion," Yuyuko said. She looked at Signum who looked back at her. "Could you please teleport everyone here to the mansion?"

"Everyone?" Signum asked.

"Yes," Yuyuko replied. She then paused for a moment while looking at Kyuubey. "Including him."

"Hey, you're not serious about taking him to the mansion?" Marisa asked.

"Of course I am," Yuyuko smiled. "Because the truth will be revealed from him."

"Don't blame me if Reimu gets angry," Marisa said.

"She won't," Yuyuko let out another small giggle before she looked at Signum once again. "Now, let's go."

"Alright," Signum said as she held up Laevatein. "Dimensional transfer, location: Oriko's mansion."

[_Dimensional transfer_]

...

Alice was busy preparing dinner in the kitchen when she saw a light coming from a magic circle formed outside the mansion before several figures formed on it. She immediately went outside and was surprised to see Madoka and her friends along with Kyuubey and a new girl that she had not seen before beside Marisa, Oriko and Signum. She was also surprised to see Yuyuko and Youmu was with them as well.

"Yuyuko!? Youmu!? What're you two doing here?" Alice asked.

"Hello there Alice," Yuyuko greeted with a smile. "I'm here to deliver some of the black orb that we've obtained from the youkai that we've fought at Gensokyo. Moreover, I've always wanted to see the outside world."

"I see," Alice said. Suddenly she noticed that Mami's eyes were red and she could see tears swelling up at the edge of her eyes. "Miss Mami, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

The moment Alice asked those questions, Mami immediately ran towards her and buried her face against Alice's chest as she let out a cry. Everyone only looked at Mami and Alice without saying a word.

"Miss... Alice... I... I... We..." Mami tried to say something, but she was not be able to convey whatever she had in mind into words as she was not able to hold off her tears. Alice only patted Mami's head as she looked at Marisa.

"What happened?" Alice asked.

"Well, it's hard to explain," Marisa said.

"I think we need to calm ourselves first so that we can discuss things properly," Signum suggested.

"Alright," Alice said.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello there. Sigh, I felt that the story is getting to it's climax (that's how I feel at the moment). Well... I've tried to prevent myself from writing too much details, but the chapter ended up with almost 10k words... Well, I hope you will enjoy everything in this chapter as much as I do... Oh, I feel nervous again the moment this chapter is available for everyone to read.**

**Note:**

**1\. I'm trying my best to make Kirika as yandere as possible... XD**

**2\. Since new semester is going to start soon (in a day or two), I won't be able to update much of this fanfic from now on. But I'll try my best to write as much and soon as possible...**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Revelation**

All of them sat down on the sofa in the living room after they calmed down and rested their mind. Madoka could see that no one tried to start a conversation after they had listened to the story told by Signum earlier and were surprised to hear the truth about the soul gem. They only kept silent for almost five minutes as if they wanted someone to speak first, or possibly waiting for someone to show up.

Madoka glanced at Mami who was looking down as she let out a small sob while Alice held her hands as to relieve her from her clouded mind. Since Alice had calmed her down, Mami tried her best to gather her courage to face the truth about the soul gem. Sayaka and Kyoko only kept their eyes on everyone as they suddenly felt weird with all kinds of people gathered at the mansion. Homura only closed her eyes since she tried to avoid making an eye contact, but she could not deny that she was feeling uncomfortable especially since Remilia was sitting next to her.

"So..." Reimu finally spoke as she looked at the short black haired girl who wore a school uniform. "Firstly, who's that girl?"

"Who? Me?" The girl asked back as she noticed Reimu was looking at her. She slowly walked behind Oriko and instantly hugged her. "I'm Kure Kirika, and I'm Oriko's best friend."

"I remember that I've met her at the front of the train station when I was with miss Nanoha and Fate few days ago," Oriko continued where the girl, Kirika, left off.

"That's right," Kirika said happily.

"But I didn't know you're a magical girl too."

"I've became one just recently."

"I-I see."

"How did you managed to find us earlier?" Marisa asked.

"Simple, I just found the four of you by coincidence and secretly followed you guys," Kirika said as she hugged Oriko more tightly. "In fact, I felt that tonight is my lucky day since I've been trying my best to find Oriko before but failed."

"Oh," Marisa said.

"What a kid," Sayaka muttered in an annoyed tone as she saw Kirika behaved no more than like a child. Kirika overheard what Sayaka had just said and glared at her.

"K-kid!? Hey you! No one calls me a kid! You wanna me to take you down!?" Kirika shouted like an insane person while grinning.

"Miss Kirika, it's not nice to say such thing to miss Sayaka. She's our friend," Oriko said.

"Okay~" Kirika instantly calmed down as she replied to Oriko in a childish tone. "Just call me Kirika, kay. I'll call you Oriko."

"O-okay," Oriko said. She felt that Kirika somehow showed great affection towards her although for some unknown reason.

"Sayaka, you shouldn't call her like that," Madoka whispered. Sayaka only glanced at Madoka before she looked away without saying anything. Madoka felt awry since she assumed that she was the one who caused the problem, especially since she unintentionally was about to kill her best friend.

"Now then..." Reimu wanted to say something before she paused when she noticed that Hayate had been collectively staring at her, Marisa, Alice, Remilia, Sakuya, Yuyuko and Youmu. "Miss Hayate, what's wrong? You've been staring at us for quite a time."

"Huh?" Hayate stuttered as she shifted her body. "Um... I didn't mean to be rude, but are you all came from a fantasy world?"

"What do you mean?" Youmu asked.

"Well... a shrine maiden, a magician, a youkai, a vampire, a maid, a ghost and a half-human half-phantom," Hayate tried to list out. "It's like you're all some fantasy characters coming from a fantasy world."

"Heh, we're real alright," Marisa said with a grin.

"Then what's this Gensokyo that you all talking about?" Signum asked. Reimu startled the moment she heard the word 'Gensokyo'. She thought that the word seemed to be slipped out from their mouth without knowing.

"Now when you mentioned about it, is that some kind of country or a place?" Nanoha asked. "I haven't even heard the name before."

"Gensokyo is..." Yuyuko tried to answer, but her mouth was suddenly covered by Reimu's hands.

"Waah!" Reimu nervously shouted, much to surprise everyone around her. Then she whispered to Yuyuko's ear, "We haven't told them about Gensokyo because they're not suppose to know about it."

"There's no harm in it," Yuyuko whispered back as she let out a small giggle. Reimu only let out a small sigh.

"Gensokyo is a place where all supernatural being co-exist. Though there are also normal human being just like us," Homura suddenly spoke. Reimu immediately glared at Homura in a dissatisfying look. However Homura did not make an eye contact with her, making Reimu felt more furious.

"How did you know that?" Kyoko asked.

"Miss Remilia told me before," Homura replied.

"Miss Remilia?"

"That's who I am," Remilia spoke while curving a small smile as if she was proud whenever someone mentioned her name. Kyoko only glanced at Remilia before she looked away since her instinct told her that Remilia was not someone who she want to deal with.

"Remilia, this is all your fault," Reimu muttered as she glared at Remilia. Remilia only grinned as she tried to look innocent. Then Reimu turned to look at Homura and said, "Why did you have to stick your nose by telling something that is unrelated to you?"

"Everyone deserves to know about it," Homura replied.

"Miss Reimu, is there a reason that you don't want us to know about the place?" Arf asked.

"There's no other reason apart from that I don't want Gensokyo to be at risk if there's an outsiders know about it," Reimu replied before she looked at Kyuubey. "Particularly this creature."

"I don't know anything about Gensokyo nor it's location, so I can't possibly become something you refer to as a risk," Kyuubey said. Reimu however did not trust what Kyuubey had just said, especially since the witches are still causing a lot of trouble at that moment.

"So... where is this place called Gensokyo? Can we go there?" Hayate asked excitedly. Reimu could see sparkles in Hayate's eyes, assuming that she was imagining Gensokyo as a beautiful and peaceful place.

"We can't see or go into Gensokyo from outside world since it was protected by a barrier," Reimu replied. "I'm sorry but you can't go there."

"I see," Hayate said in a disappointed tone. "I understand the reason why you wanted to keep it confidential."

"Reimu, there's no harm in it," Marisa said in a cheerful tone.

"I agree with Marisa," Remilia said. "They've helped us so much, so there's no harm for us to let them visit Gensokyo. After all they've let stay in a nice mansion and even let Pache visit their library."

"What do you mean 'there's no harm'?" Reimu argued. "Gensokyo's being invaded by hundreds of witches, so there's more harm if we let anyone know about it."

"But Oriko and the others aren't just anyone," Alice said. "They're our friends."

"S-stop fighting," Hayate tried to calm Reimu and her friends down. "I'm sorry that I'm the reason that you're all arguing. I understand that we can't get to see Gensokyo."

"Miss Hayate, there's no problem for you and all of our friends here to visit Gensokyo... except Kyuubey," Alice said. "Reimu here is just being paranoid because she's the one who maintains the Great Hakurei Border that protects Gensokyo. So she's the one who will likely to be blamed by residents of Gensokyo if outsiders came and create ruckus there."

"Argh, suit yourself then," Reimu finally gave up. "Don't blame me if anyone other than all of us knows about it."

"Miss Reimu, may I ask a question?" Fate asked.

"Yes?" Reimu replied in an uninterested tone.

"You said that Gensokyo was protected by a barrier right?" Fate asked.

"Yeah, why?" Reimu asked back.

"I've been wondering... How did the witches pass through the barrier?"

"Usually there are humans from the outside world who tends to get lost and entered it by accident at a certain place. So the witches also entered Gensokyo by accident."

"But it's illogical that hundreds of witches entered by accident, given that someone should enter it from a certain place," Fate tried to give a theory. Reimu widened her eyes after she heard what Fate had just said. She put her hand under her chin, thinking for the possibilities.

"No... It can't be..." Reimu trailed off before she looked at Yuyuko. "Hey Yuyuko, how come you were at the place where Oriko and the rest were gathering earlier?"

"Coincidence...?" Yuyuko replied while letting out a small giggle as she covered her mouth with her sleeve. But everyone felt that her answer was more like a question or as if she was not sure of it herself.

"So that's it..." Reimu immediately shot up from her seat and shouted while looking aimlessly around her. "Yukari! Come out! I know you're around here! If you don't, then I'll beat you when I get back to Gensokyo!"

There was silence in the living room as they were surprised by Reimu's behaviour, especially since they did not see anyone named Yukari amongst them. However less than a few seconds their curiosity was answered as their eyes widened in surprise the moment they suddenly saw a thin vertical line with two ribbons at each of its end formed at the centre of the room. The line slowly expanded to form a large gap filled with countless creepy blinking eyes. Then they could see two women slowly merged out of the gap before it stood casually in front of them.

One of the women had a golden eyes and a long blonde hair which was coiled up into her mob cap. She wore a purple Chinese-styled tabard with various trigrams over an elegant pale pink Western-styled dress and covered her mouth with a paper fan. While the other one had a yellow eyes, short blonde hair covered by a light pink two-tailed hat with dozen of amulets. The woman wore a blue tabard with some weird design over a light purple dress. But one thing that caught most of their attention was that she had nine fox tails swaying lightly.

"M-miss Alice, who're they?" Mami whispered.

"The one with a paper fan is Yakumo Yukari and the one with fox tails is her shikigami, Yakumo Ran," Alice replied.

"They're your friends right?"

"More or less like that," Alice replied. Mami only nodded while wondering by what Alice had just meant by that.

"My, my, Reimu. You sure know I'm around here," Yukari said as she let out a small giggle. "I was hoping that I don't have to show myself and let Yuyuko explain everything."

"There's no way for Yuyuko to know where we're hiding unless you've kept your eyes on us," Reimu said in an annoying tone. "Put that aside, why did you let those witches into Gensokyo? I know you're the one who did it since you can easily go to the outside world."

"I had to do it," Yukari replied. "Or else we will face some problems."

"Witches are outside world's problem," Reimu said. "That's it! I'm going back to Gensokyo!"

"Outside world's problem is gensokyo's problem," Ran said.

"That's right," Youmu said.

"What do you mean by that?" Marisa asked.

"I think you all should see it by yourselves," Yukari said. "But first we should head to Arthra first."

"Eh? How did you know about Arthra?" Nanoha asked.

"You'll find about that soon," Yukari said with a smile as she opened a gap. "Now, let's head inside."

"We're going to enter that weird gap?" Sayaka asked. "No way! I won't enter it! Who knows we'll end up die there."

"There's nothing to be worry about," Yuyuko said. "Yukari is not the kind of person who will kill anyone."

"Less talk, more action," Yukari said. "Let's go so we won't waste our time."

"What about Kyuubey?" Madoka asked.

"He'll come along with us," Yukari replied.

"I don't know where you'll be taking me to, but yet I'm curious," Kyuubey said as he stared at Yukari. However Yukari only simply ignored him.

"Won't it be dangerous to allow it to come with us?" Signum asked.

"Don't worry about it too much," Yukari said. All of them looked at each other as Reimu and the others entered the gap Yukari created before they finally stood up and followed from behind.

...

Lindy was peacefully enjoying her tea while she stared at a small screen showing data of the grief seeds in front of her. She then let out a sigh as her mind starting to feel exhausted after she put a lot of effort to understand the result of the data.

"Admiral," Chrono called out as he entered the bridge. "Shouldn't we tell Nanoha and the rest about the data?"

"Yes, I suppose," Lindy said. "No matter how hard we've tried to confirm the reliability and validity of the data, it still showed the same result. So there's no problem in letting them know about it."

"Alright, I'll contact them to-"

"AAAAHHHH!" One of Arthra's navigator suddenly screamed.

"What's the matter?" Amy asked in a panic tone. Lindy and Chrono also looked at the navigator who was screaming earlier.

"T-that..." The navigator was in loss for words as he pointed towards a wall. Everyone present at the command room looked towards the direction where the navigator pointed and gasped as they saw something like a gap filled with blinking eyes appeared.

"W-what's that?" Amy panicked out as she stood up and took a few steps back. Chrono immediately took a fighting stance as he changed into his barrier jacket and waited for any incomming attack.

"Amy, put up an emerg-, Lindy tried to give a command. But she suddenly stopped as she heard Nanoha's voice.

"Wait!" Nanoha shouted as she slowly emerged from the gap, followed by Reimu and the others.

"Nanoha!?" Lindy was surprised along with everyone else.

"What're you all doing inside that weird gap?" Amy asked. "More importantly, what is that?"

"Miss Reimu's friend used her magic to transfer us here from miss Oriko's mansion," Fate replied.

"It's more like we're walking rather than teleporting," Vita said.

"It was fun thought," Hayate said. "It's not like we're doing it everyday."

"Ugh, I felt like I'm going to be sick after seeing those creepy eyes inside that gap," Sayaka muttered as she exited the gap while closing her eyes. "It's like they're watching us all the time."

"Sayaka, are you all right?" Madoka who was behind Sayaka asked.

"Yeah, I'm-" Sayaka tried to reply. But the moment she opened her eyes, she was entranced by everything that she saw around her. "W-what is this!? It's like some kind of ship or a fleet."

"It is a ship, moron," Kyoko rebuked. "Or should I say it's a spaceship."

"Hey! Do you have a problem with me!?" Sayaka shouted.

"Yeah, why not?" Kyoko asked.

"You two, stop fighting because we're here as guests," Mami adviced. Sayaka and Kyoko looked at Mami before they looked away so that they could stop the senseless arguments.

"Fate, those girls are..." Lindy trailed off as she observed some faces that she had not met before.

"They're our friends," Fate answered as she introduced Madoka and the others as well as Alice, Remilia and Sakuya. She could not think of any reasonable explanation to answer Lindy's question. Then she gestured her hand at Kyuubey and said, "and this is Kyuubey."

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Kyuubey," Kyuubey introduced himself. "I'm really surprise to see a lot of potential magical girls here ever since I've met Mikuni Oriko's friends at her mansion. Since-"

"Alright, alright. Let's not get too excited," Yukari interrupted Kyuubey. "We'll let you do the explanation later on."

Lindy observed Yukari who was just exited the gap, followed by Ran, Yuyuko and Youmu before the gap slowly closed up.

"And are those people miss Reimu's friends?" Choro asked.

"Yes, she's the one who created that gap," Nanoha replied.

"I see."

"I believe this is the first time we meet each other in person, miss Lindy," Yuyuko said with a smile.

"Do I know you?" Lindy curiously asked.

"_When a light engulfed by darkness, A creature shall be born, Learn to free it is a must, So that everything may be back to normal_," Yuyuko uttered rhythms of poem-like riddle instead of answering Lindy's question. However Lindy widened her eyes as she immediately recognized the poem which sometimes had been lingering inside her mind. Nanoha and her friends also recognized the poem since they had been told by Chrono several day ago.

"Wait, those poems... Does that mean you're the one who wrote all those letters?" Lindy asked.

"That's correct," Yuyuko replied with a giggle before she introduced herself and Youmu. "Nice to meet you. My name is Saigyouji Yuyuko and this is my subordinate, Konpaku Youmu."

"Nice to meet you," Yukari spoke after Yuyuko finished introducing herself. "My name is Yakumo Yukari and this is my shikigami, Yakumo Ran."

"Nice to meet you," Lindy replied. "It seems that you all have an important matter since all of you came all this way here."

"Maybe," Reimu said while pointing her thumb at Yukari. "It was her idea to bring us here."

"I see," Lindy said.

"I brought all of them here so that we can see the truth about the world," Yukari said with a smile. All of them looked at Yukari in silence as they were waiting for whatever she was talking about. "We'll be going to ask Kyuubey everything. But we'll need someone who will help us with this."

"Do you mean us?" Nanoha asked as she was refering to herself and her friends.

"No, not you and your friends," Yukari replied. "You all will be witnessing everything."

"So does that mean us?" Madoka asked.

"No."

"Then who? Oriko?" Marisa asked.

"M-me?" Oriko was surprised when she heard Marisa mentioned her name.

"Or possibly Homura," Remilia suggested with a grin as she gazed at Homura who stared back at her. Remilia could see the fear in Homura's eyes the moment her name was mentioned.

"It's the latter," Yukari said. "I'd also like to invite two other people who will help us to justifiy whether the information they give is right or wrong. But before that..."

Yukari walked towards Signum and whispered something towards her. Signum only listened to Yukari's whisper with a nod before she changed her clothes into her barrier jacket.

"Are you sure about this?" Signum asked.

"Yes," Yukari replied. Despite her smiling face, Signum could feel that Yukari was serious about her request.

"Alright... Struggle bind!" Signum commanded as she quickly pointed her Laevatein towards Homura. Several binds formed and immediately binded Homura's body. Homura then glared at Signum as she tried to break free from the bind. "I'm sorry, miss Yukari told me that we should cast a bind at you for some reason."

"Thank you for your help, miss Signum," Yukari said as she opened a gap. "Well then Ran, could you call them for me?"

"Alright," Ran replied before she walked into the gap. All of them waited for a few minutes before Ran emerged back from the gap along with the two people that Yukari had just mentioned. One of the person had a blue eyes and a blue hair tied into twintails. Her blue dress had a lot of pockets around the hem of the skirt and at her upper sleeves. She wore a green hat with a white wipsy symbol on it and a blue boots. Everyone could see that she carried a large dark aquamarine backpack that are quite large for her. Then they looked at the other person who had a purple eyes and short purple hair with a black hariband. She wore pink slippers, a blue shirt with a yellow heart shaped buttons and a pink collar and a pink skirt with flower pattern. The most characteristic that caught everyone's attention was she had one large eyeball in front of her chest which was connected to several cords.

"Oh great," Reimu sighed. "Now you brought Nitori and Satori along with you?"

"Like my master just said, they will help us to reveal the truth about the world since they've seen all of it," Ran said.

_That girl with a large eyeball sure is creepy_, Sayaka thought.

"Thank you for your compliment though I don't know which part of me is creepy," Satori said as she looked at Sayaka. "Like what you've just thought right now, I can read someone's mind and thoughts."

"Wha-" Sayaka was surprised the moment she heard Satori spoke to her.

"Everyone, meet Satori and Nitori," Marisa said cheerfully as she patted Satori and Nitori's shoulder. "Satori here can read our mind so don't think something silly about her. While Nitori is one of the most genius kappa that are specialized in machines."

"Nice to meet you all," Nitori said with a smile. Everyone hastily greeted back the newcomer while fearing for Satori to expose their thought.

"Don't worry. I won't expose your silly and pervert thoughts," Satori said in her bored voice. "I'm only here to expose what that little white creature are up to as well as what that black haired girl keep as a secret."

"I hope everyone is ready to face every truth that will be revealed," Yukari said. Everyone only gulped in silence as they prepared themselves to listen or watch everything. Yukari only nodded as she looked at Ran. "Satori, you may start now."

"Alright," Satori replied. Then she walked towards Kyuubey and asked, "Kyuubey, may we know why you want to recruit magical girls? Why you want them to make a wish with you?"

"I simply..." Kyuubey started to explain the usual reason he wanted to recruit magical girls.

"I see," Satori immediately interrupted. "You've wanted any girl to make a contract with you when they're wish was fulfilled which they would fight witches forever in return. But that so-called forever will not happen since magical girl's life is too short because the taint refered to as a grief would eventually consume their soul gem and turn them into witches. When they've become a witch, an energy would be released which will be used to prevent and stave off the heat death of the universe."

"How-" Kyuubey tried to ask but once again Satori intecepted him.

"I remember I've mentioned earlier that I can read everyone's mind," Satori said.

"T-that's not true right?" Sayaka asked. "Magical girls that are born from hope, while witches are born from grief and despair."

"Which part of it isn't true?" Remilia asked.

"I agree," Signum said. "All of you had heard from Kyuubey himself that he had ripped your soul and turned it into a soul gem. So it makes sense if he said that the witches are originally a magical girl."

Lindy, Chrono and Amy as well as other navigators of Arthra gasped the moment they heard Signum revealed the secret of the soul gem. But they thought that they might misheard everything or Signum was mistaken about the soul gem.

"Signum, what do you mean by 'Kyuubey ripped out their soul and turned it into a soul gem'?" Chrono asked.

"Apparently, these girl's soul was taken out from their physical body and was changed to soul gem so they can use magic as well as to avoid them from easily getting killed by the witches. In other words according to Kyuubey, the real magical girl was trapped inside their soul gem while their body is just an empty shell," Signum replied. She felt that her explanation was still the same as earlier, but she tried her best to explain it as simple and elaborate as possible.

Mami covered her ears as she could not stand the truth she was hearing at that moment. While Madoka was speechless as her mind was trying to deny everything. Kyoko gritted her teeth while listening to every single detail that Satori and Signum's explanation. Homura only kept silent as she tried her best to control her emotions. Oriko looked down as she was clueless although she knew the truth through her clairvoyance. Kirika only smiled while putting her hands behind the back of her head. Nanoha and her friends as well as the crew of Arthra only listened to everything without interfering while they dealt with mixed emotions inside their heart.

"T-that's not true right?" Amy asked. "That's a little bit cruel for them."

"Sadly, it's just like Signum just said," Nanoha said.

"But who knows that Satori girl was lying to us about we magical girls will be turned into witches so that they can watch us live a miserable life!" Sayaka argued. "It's not Kyuubey himself telling us about it. Everything only came out from her mouth."

"I've proved to you that I can read your mind but you still didn't believe me," Satori said with a sigh.

"I've seen a magical girl turned into a witch in front of me," Kirika confessed.

"T-then... What happened to the girl?" Madoka asked.

"Simple," Kirika let out a big grin. "I only have to kill her before she kill me."

"Kirika, let's not scare miss Madoka and the others too much," Oriko whispered as she tugged Kirika's sleeve. Kirika only nodded with a warm smile, indicating that she understood and will obey Oriko's request.

"Is this what the riddles meant, miss Yuyuko?" Lindy asked.

"Hmm, maybe," Yuyuko replied. Lindy let out a small sigh as Yuyuko did not want to give her direct answer. Then she turned to look at Kyoko and asked, "Miss Kyoko, I remembered that you told us before that the witch will drop a grief seed after it was killed, am I right?"

"Yes," Kyoko replied.

"It seems the result of the data was true," Lindy muttered before she looked at Amy. "Amy, could you display the result of the grief seed?"

"Alright," Amy replied as she constantly typed something on the computer's keyboard at a fast speed before the computer's main screen showed the data. Reimu and the rest widened their eyes the moment the saw the data of the grief seed.

"Oi, oi. What's going on here?" Kyoko asked. "Why is there something like a little girl inside the grief seed?"

"That's what I would like to tell you before about this matter," Lindy said. "We've tried to analysis the grief seed over and over again but it showed the same result no matter what."

"'We've even recorded a video of what's inside the grief seed," Amy said as she played a video. Everyone watched the video and witnessed that the girl inside the grief seed looked like was suffering. "As you can see, the silhoutte figure seem like she was trying to escape from the black substance that look like a mist that kept shrouding her."

"If what you've said about the witch is true, then the grief seed that it dropped after you all killed it must've contain the soul of magical girl. While the black substance must be the thing that we refered to as a grief," Chrono said.

"Wait, if a grief seed contained magical girl's soul..." Remilia trailed off as she looked at Yuyuko with a serious expression. "... then why didn't you told us about it?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Yuyuko asked as she tilted her head.

"You could see a soul, so you should be able to see the inside of the grief seed."

"Oh, haven't I tell you about it before?" Yuyuko asked with a smile.

"Of course you haven't," Remilia said.

"Oh, I guess I really didn't managed to do that," Yuyuko let out a small laugh.

"We're also busy dealing with the witches, so that's why we didn't managed to meet up with you," Youmu said. "After all, you left too soon."

"Blame Yukari for sending us too soon," Reimu said. "We could've prepare something if she gave us time."

"Now, now," Yukari said. "What's done is done. Now we need to focus on the current matter."

"You're all lying! Everything is a lie!" Sayaka said.

"Don't worry, I've prepared something that can prove everything to us," Nitori said. Then she turned towards Amy and asked, "Miss, can I use the main screen over there?"

"S-sure," Amy replied.

Nitori nodded with a smile before she took out a laptop from her bag and connect it to the Arthra's main computer. After a while the main computer displayed a video clip of a magical girl turning into witches before it disappeared into a barrier that it created. Everyone widened their eyes in shock as they watched the video from the beginning until the end.

"It's all fake... I know it..." Sayaka still tried to deny the truth.

"You're quite stubborn. Wait just a minute. I'll show you something so you will accept the truth," Nitori said as she played another video.

"H-how..." Sayaka widened her eyes in fear as she saw herself inside the video, sitting on a bench at a subway train station while holding onto her tainted soul gem. Then a few seconds later, the video showed Kyoko came and sat beside Sayaka before she was thrown away by a force coming from Sayaka. Then all of them saw Sayaka slowly turned into a witch before it disappeared into a barrier. The video ended when the witch was killed by Mami, Kyoko and Homura.

"So? Do you want me to replay the video?" Nitori looked at Sayaka and asked.

"Stop it! I can't stand it! That's not me! I don't remember that I'm turning into a witch!" Sayaka finally gave up as she fell on her knees. Shama immediately went towards Sayaka and firmly held her hands while looking at Nitori.

"Don't you feel sorry for them?" Shamal asked.

"Yeah," Vita said in an upset tone. She could see that Madoka and her friends started to feel the tense after witnessing everything that was displayed on the Arthra's main screen. "That video is too much for them even though its showing us the truth."

"We didn't show the video just for fun you know," Nitori said.

"That's true," Yuyuko said. "Everything that we had just watched and will be watching after this will be up to you all to decide what you want to do after this."

"Wait, how did you record all that?" Alice asked. "Something is not making any sense about that video because miss Sayaka is still here and didn't turned into a witch like in the video."

"We've recorded it using the latest technology that I can get from the outside world," Yukari replied.

"As for your argument, that's the part where things get really interesting," Nitori said before she played several videos on every screen at the same time.

All of them witnessed all video was showing everything about Madoka, Sayaka, Mami, Kyoko and Homura. On one video, they saw Kyoko was fighting Sayaka until Homura arrived, while the other video showed Mami killed Kyoko and tried to kill Homura but she was killed by Madoka. Another video showed Kyoko became a witch and killed Madoka and Sayaka before she was killed by Homura.

"Wait..." Alice trailed off. "All of it doesn't make any sense. I was with miss Mami, Madoka and Sayaka all the time. But I didn't see myself in all of those videos especially during the fight between miss Kyoko and Sayaka. Moreover, miss Madoka haven't become a magical girl."

"That's right," Ran said. "We've been watching you all up until now. But there's something common about the video which is very weird."

"And may we know the common part about it?" Oriko asked.

"Wait," Fate suddenly spoke. "Can we watch all those video once again?"

Nitori nodded before she replayed all the video. All of them rewatched it before they noticed the common thing that Ran had just mentioned.

"That video... is showing everyone is killing each other," Chrono muttered. "But everything didn't even add up. In one video, miss Kyoko was killed by miss Mami. But in another video, miss Mami was killed by miss Kyoko."

"But one common thing is that miss Homura survived in all of those video," Zafira said. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Wait! could this be... related to the time distortion incident!?" Lindy spoke after she had a long thought.

"Fufufu, we may as well ask someone," Yuyuko said with a giggle before she turned to look at Homura. "May we know what secret you were hiding all this time?"

"Wait, why should we ask her?" Mami asked.

"Because she's seems to be the key to everything," Yuyuko replied.

Homura only looked at Yuyuko without saying anything. She tried to ignore Yuyuko's question, but Yuyuko's gaze had struck her and made her felt like she was being hypnotised. Yuyuko only giggled as she saw Homura seemed could not answer her question for whatever reason she had in mind.

"It's alright if you don't want to answer me," Yuyuko said. "Satori, can you help us with this?"

"Yes," Satori replied and stood in front of Homura. She could see fear in Homura's eyes as she was reading her mind. After a few minutes, Satori let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?"Marisa asked in a curious tone.

"It seems she managed to divert her thoughts from revealing everything to me," Satori replied. "But I was able to pick up a little bit information which was mostly about 'saving Madoka' which always rung inside her mind."

"That's alright," Yukari said. "We can watch several videos on the main screen."

"I'm gonna play it," Nitori said as she started playing another set of videos. Homura widened her eyes in terror as all of the videos showed the day the walpurgistnach arrived at Mitakihara city. Once again everyone widened their eyes at they witnessed the devastating destruction that was created by it upon the city.

They saw that Homura was fighting the walpurgistnach in every video. But the weirdest part that they noticed once again was that one of the video showed that Homura was fighting along with Mami and Sayaka. While other video showed Homura was with Madoka and Kyoko. On the other hand, another video showed Homura was fighting alongside Mami. Howevery every video showed that Madoka made a contract with Kyuubey during the walpurgistnach raid.

"No..." Homura muttered in a very low voice that could not be heard by anyone. She wanted to use her magic to stop everything, but her could not do anything given her state at the moment. "Please... Stop..."

"What's going on here?" Mami asked in a frightened voice. "Mitakihara city had not been destroyed nor we've encountered a large witch like that."

"This is surely related to the time distortion case," Hayate said in a serious tone. She could see Homura finally showed some expressions on her face as she watched the video. "Homura, please... if there's something that you know about this, please let all of us know. We're here to help you."

"Please... no more..." Homura pleaded in a low voice.

"I've seen this scene before in my clairvoyance," Oriko said.

"What do you mean by that?" Kyoko asked.

"I have an ability to foresee the future," Oriko replied. "When I first became a magical girl, I foresaw a future where Mitakihara city was attacked by a large witch. Then miss Madoka made a contract with Kyuubey and managed to defeat the witch. But... she became a witch and killed everyone except miss Akemi Homura."

"T-that's not true right?" Madoka stuttered in fear as she asked. She was hoping that Oriko was mistaken in foreseeing the future.

"I... don't know," Oriko replied.

"Why didn't you tell us all about it!?" Vita asked in a disappointed tone.

"I'm sorry," Oriko replied. "Miss Reimu told me to keep it as a secret since we wanted to investigate and tried to ensure that what I've foresaw was true."

"But don't you trust us?" Nanoha asked.

"We simply don't want to give false information," Reimu was the one who answered Nanoha's question.

"This is the part which is the key to our mysteries," Nitori said. Everyone except Oriko, Reimu and the others widened their eyes as they saw every video showed that Madoka instantly became a witch shortly after she defeated the walpurgistnach and destroyed everything. Madoka instantly covered her mouth with her hands as she fell on her knees the moment she witnessed herself in the video was turning into a witch.

"Madoka nee-sama! Are you all right? Madoka nee-sama!" Nanoha immediately dashed towards Madoka and support her from behind. However Madoka was too shocked to answer as her eyes kept watching the video.

"Please! Stop the video!" Homura shouted.

Everyone were surprised to see Homura started to cry loudly, especially since she did not even showed any emotions before that. Marisa immediately walked towards Homura and firmly hugged her. Although she knew that Homura always showed hostility towards everyone before, but she could not simply ignore her right at that time. After watching all the videos, Marisa realized that Homura was doing all that for some reason which she had to endure it alone.

"Hey, let's stop watching the videos," Marisa said.

"I agree," Fate said. "We've all already witnessed everything and assume that miss Homura is the key to everything."

"Miss Homura, please let us know everything so that we can help you," Nanoha said.

"Now I see," Kyuubey interrupted after he went silent as he kept his eyes on the video earlier. "I've always felt strange about you, Akemi Homura. It seems that you're not from this timeline."

"Does that mean she's from other dimension?" Chrono asked.

"It's more like she's from the future," Kyuubey said. "She's..."

"Trying to protect Madoka from making a contact with you. This is why she's the annomaly in this timeline," Satori interrupted as she read Kyuubey's mind. Then she looked at Homura and tried to read her mind. "This is because you're planning to force Madoka to become a magical girl so that you could turn her into a powerful witch which will release great amount of energy radiated throughout the universe. This is why you're always clinging to Madoka because you could feel the greatest potential from her. This is also the reason Homura tried to go back into the past to create a new alternate timeline."

"Homura..." Madoka muttered. She was loss for words as she looked at Homura who was letting a loud sob.

"Are you really from the future?" Hayate asked. Homura finally nodded without saying anything.

"Amazing," Sakuya muttered with amazement. "This is the first time I heard that time reversal was possible."

"I guess that there are many interesting magic that we don't know of," Remilia said.

"Yes, m'lady," Sakuya said with a smile.

"The reason Homura wanted to save only Madoka was that..." Satori tried to explain everything instead of Homura.

"Satori, let miss Homura talk this time," Marisa interrupted as she looked at Satori before she looked at Homura and asked softly, "But why did you only want to save Madoka?"

"I... I..." Homura tried to answer the question despite she was still sobbing hard. "That's because Mami and the others... didn't listen to my warning... They only know to kill each other when they learnt about the truth... But Madoka was the only one who was nice to me... She's the only one who'd listened to my warning... That's why I gave up saving everyone other than Madoka..."

"Why you..." Kyoko started to become angry. Although she still could not believe that she was close to Madoka, Mami, Sayaka and Homura nor about Homura came from the future, but Homura's excuse made her felt like she was being betrayed.

"So you gave up on them because they didn't believe you," Remilia spoke in a serious tone. "What a childish excuse that you've made."

"Remilia! Stop!" Alice rebuked in an upset tone.

"There's nothing wrong about me criticizing her!" Remilia said.

"The way you're tring to reprimand her is too harsh," Reimu said. "But one thing I agree is that miss Homura shouldn't make such excuse just because miss Mami and the others didn't believe her."

"I... I..." Homura could not surpress her feelings as she let out another loud cry. Reimu suddenly felt guilty the moment she saw Homura in such condition. As Homura tried to wipe out her tears, she suddenly felt that another person hugged her. She looked up and saw it was Hayate who embraced her with a warm smile.

"Miss Homura, I don't think that miss Reimu and miss Remilia is being mean or have any ill intention towards you," Hayate said.

"What they meant was that you shouldn't give up on miss Mami and the others even if they tried to kill each other. You shouldn't hurt nor ignore them even if they showed hostility towards you in the other past timeline. You should show them that you can help them change," Nanoha said.

"That's right," Fate said. "If it weren't for Nanoha, I wouldn't be her friend nor be alive up until today."

"Yeah," Vita said. "The same goes to us too. If it weren't for Nanoha, Fate and Arf, Hayate and the four of us wouldn't be alive today. Although she used some harsh methods to make us understand."

"That's because I believed that's the only way to make you all listen to me," Nanoha said with a smile.

"Indeed your effort wasn't in vain," Signum said.

"Hey, this is not about you all! This is about us!" Sayaka shouted. "We're suffering from a fate that we magical girls couldn't avoid!"

"Listen here!" Vita said. "It's not like you're the only one who..."

"Vita, now is not the right time to tell them about our past," Signum said. Vita immediately stopped talking and looked away from everyone else. Reimu looked at everyone before she noticed something as she set her eyes at Yukari who was smiling at her.

"Hey Yukari, I didn't see outside world's problem related to Gensokyo," Reimu said.

"Ah, about that..." Yukari trailed off with a small giggle before she looked at Yuyuko. Yuyuko only nodded and immediately made a hand gesture towards Youmu. Youmu unsheathed both of her katana and slashed Kyuubey's body into pieces. Everyone looked at Youmu with a surprised expression as everything happened in just a blink of eye.

"Why did you do that to Kyuubey?" Mami asked. "I thought that he can use his spare body."

"It'll give him time regenerate his spare body," Youmu replied.

"It's useless," Homura said. "He can regenerate anywhere he want."

"You don't have to worry about that," Yuyuko said. "He won't appear here again for a while. We'll take care of him if he shows up again until he's getting tired of being annhilated."

"Now he's been taken care of, we can continue in peace," Yukari said. "Reimu, do you remember the day before I sent you to the outside world?"

"Yeah, why? I remember you brought a weird item with you similar to the one that Aya always bring with her," Reimu said. Yukari turned looked at Nitori and nodded towards her. Nitori understood what Yukari's nod meant and immediately played a video of Reimu at the Hakurei Shrine.

"Beautiful..." Amy muterred as she saw the scenery of the Hakurei Shrine in the video.

"Why you're showing us this?" Reimu asked with a sigh.

"Just watch," Yukari said.

...

**Video: **

[_Yukari: Hello there, Reimu. What are you doing?_]

[_I'm sweeping the ground, you blind_]

...

"Err, I didn't see any problem with Reimu in that video," Marisa said.

"Yes," Nitori said. "But how about this?"

Nitori played several video that showed Reimu was sweeping the ground. But the most noticable part was that Reimu was saying different words in every video. One of the video also showed that Yukari was giving Reimu some sack of rice and Reimu happily took it.

"W-wha?" Reimu was surprised by the video of herself before she looked at Yukari. "I didn't remember you visited me everyday like that, and I don't remember you gave me a sack of rice."

"That's the problem," Yukari said. "You may not realize about this, but everyone in Gensokyo was also affected by the time reversal that was caused by Akemi Homura. In other words, everyone was endlessly doing the same thing over and over again."

"Wait. If we were affected by the time reversal, how come the six of you didn't affected by it?" Alice asked.

"That's because we were hiding at other dimensions since it seems that it was not easily affected by the time reversal," Yuyuko replied. "But lately those dimensions started to get affected by it. So we had no choice but to hide at Arthra."

"So that's why the crew members were complaining about a little bit shortage of food," Lindy said. "But we haven't seen you six around."

"That's because we hid ourselves well," Youmu said.

"I see."

"By the way," Yukari spoke as she looked at Nanoha. "I've witnessed about you and miss Madoka earlier this morning. You've said that miss Madoka lives at Uminari City right?"

"Yes, why?" Nanoha asked. Instead of replying to Nanoha's question, Yukari looked at Ran and Nitori before she nodded. Nitori immediately took out a remote control helicam out from her bag and gave it to Ran.

"What's that?" Alice asked.

"It's a remote control helicam that I've modified from it's original design. I've connected it to my computer so that we'll be able to watch whatever it'll record live. This is the one that we've used to record everything," Nitori replied. "We're going to reveal something. But don't worry too much because it's something related to miss Nanoha."

All of them only listened to Nitori's explanation before Yukari opened up a gap. They watched Ran entered the gap before they set their eyes on the Arthra's main screen which displayed everything that was recorded by the helicam. Soon Ran passed through the gap and arrived at the sky of Uminari City.

"Ahem," Ran spoke in front of the helicam's microphone. "Right now I'm above Uminari City and I'm going to let go of the helicam."

Ran then let go of the helicam as she let it descended towards the city and into the busy street. Everyone only kept their eyes on the main screen as their mind was wondering about the purpose of Yukari wanted them to watch the live record.

"I wonder what's so important about this?" Kyoko muttered as she could saw the helicam only recorded swarms of pedestrians. But soon their eyes widened the moment they saw the helicam stopped in front of a person that they definitely recognized. The person only looked surprised as she stared at the helicam which was seemed to be in front of her.

"But... that's impossible," Mami said as she looked back and forth at Madoka and the person on the screen.

"It is," Yukari said.

"There's... two Madoka nee-sama!?" Nanoha said in a surprised tone. Then she turned towards Madoka and asked, "Are you really Kaname Madoka?"

"Y-yes, I am," Madoka answered although she was surprised and clueless about what she just saw.

"How's that possible?" Reimu asked. "Yukari, are you sure that Ran is recording it live?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Yukari replied. "It's not that we're trying to lie to you all."

"Man, I don't get it," Kyoko said as she scratched her head. "What's going on here?"

"If there's two Kaname Madoka, then does that mean that something happened that are related to time distortion case?" Fate asked.

"More or less like that," Nitori replied. "Our world that are once parallel are overlapping with one another."

"In other words, it means that the world that we live in didn't have any magical girls or a place called Gensokyo before this right?" Shamal asked.

"Yes," Yuyuko replied. "Or we can say that the world outside Gensokyo before this didn't have any magical girls, mages like you all and also Kyuubey."

"I see."

"If our world are really overlapping just like you said, then where is the other me?" Reimu asked.

"Who knows," Yuyuko replied as she patted Sayaka's shoulders. "But Cirno is right here in front of us."

"Hmm, if we look at her closely..." Marisa muttered as she narrowed her eyes. "She does look like Cirno."

"Excuse me but I don't have mood for your jokes," Sayaka said in a serious tone.

"Sayaka, you shouldn't..." Madoka tried to say something.

"Madoka, you stay out of this!" Sayaka shouted. It was clear to everyone that Sayaka started to become annoyed and angry by other people's behaviour. She felt that everyone seemed to be careless about the problem regarding the soul gem and the witches. "I want to leave here, so please send me back to the mansion."

"I'm also... want to go back to Mitakihara," Mami said slowly in a very weak tone.

"Very well, I'll send you all home now," Yukari said as she opened a gap. "After all, I've already showed you everything."

"So you're just gonna let them just like this after what you've showed us?" Alice asked.

"Everything that happened tonight will not be in vain," Yuyuko said with a smile.

"Miss Lindy, the six of us will be staying here without hiding since you already know our presence," Nitori said.

"I understand," Lindy said. "I'll prepare some room for you then."

"I'll be staying here as well," Remilia said. "I want to meet up with Pache at the infinity library. I want miss Shamal to accompany me for the time being."

"I-I don't mind but..." Shamal trailed off while looking at Hayate. Hayate only nodded at her with a smile.

"Go on because miss Remilia needs you," Hayate said. "We'll be fine by ourselves."

"Alright."

"Then we'll leaving you behind," Reimu said. Remilia only grinned at her as she watched her entered the gap. Sayaka did not even looked at anyone as she immediately entered the gap, followed by Kyoko. Alice, Marisa and Hayate helped Mami and Homura to get up on their feet and slowly led them into the gap.

Madoka felt helpless as she only watched everyone left the Arthra without saying a word. She knew that Sayaka, Mami, Kyoko and Homura started to feel depressed and down the moment everything was revealed in a harsh way. If she were to give an opinion, she would definitely oppose the idea of revealing everything about the truth about soul gem and the witches to everyone. But she realized that she was not in a position to prohibit Yukari and the others from telling the truth, especially since she was hesitated to do anything.

"Madoka... I mean... Miss Madoka," Nanoha spoke as she tilted her head to look at Madoka. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Madoka replied while trying her hardest to curve a smile. "Just call me Madoka is fine."

"Okay," Nanoha said as she held Madoka's hand and led her towards the gap. "Let's go."

"Uh, yeah," Madoka said

"Arf and I will be staying here for a bit longer," Fate said.

"Alright," Nanoha replied before the she and Madoka entered the gap.

"Take care of Hayate for me," Shamal said in a concerned tone.

"Don't worry too much," Vita said.

"Inform us of anything important as soon as you heard of it," Signum said.

"I will," Shamal replied. The four of them looked at each other before Signum, Vita and Zafira entered the gap and made their way return to the mansion.

...

"Sayaka, wait for me," Madoka said as she was trying to catch up with Sayaka who had already left the mansion. But Sayaka seemed to not have any intention of stopping to wait for Madoka. Madoka had no choice but to ran towards Sayaka and grabbed her hand. But Sayaka immediately pulled away her hand as she stopped. "Sayaka, you shouldn't left the mansion without saying anything to miss Oriko and the others."

"Madoka, please... leave me alone for a while," Sayaka said without looking back at Madoka before she started walking away. Madoka wanted to stop Sayaka and tried to talk with her but her heart suddenly felt reluctant, as if it told her to stop following Sayaka.

"Let's give her some time to calm herself down," Alice said as she and Mami approached Madoka from behind.

"O-okay," Madoka replied. She then looked at Mami and asked, "M-Mami, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Mami replied. "I think I also need some rest. You should go home and rest yourself. Don't worry about me."

"Okay," Madoka said before she bowed slightly towards Alice and Mami. "I'll be going then. Good night."

"Good night," both Alice and Mami said while bowing slightly towards Madoka before the two of them parted way with Madoka. Few minutes later, both Alice and Mami arrived at Mami's apartment. After the two of them had their dinner, Alice immediately led Mami to her bedroom to let her have some rest. She could see that Mami became low spirited after witnessing everything back at Arthra. Mami immediately fall asleep the moment she rested her head on the pillow. Alice let out a small sigh as she also lay herself on the bed before she slowly slumbered into a deep sleep.

...

**At Oriko's Mansion (11 PM):**

"I wonder if miss Madoka and her friends will be all right after everything was revealed," Oriko muttered in a concern tone. "All of them left the mansion as soon as we've arrived here. Even miss Kyoko left without saying anything. I hope that everyone wouldn't be doing the same thing like their other self in other timeline."

"We need to focus on preventing miss Madoka from making a contract with Kyuubey as well as preparing ourselves to fight the large witch that we saw in the video for now," Reimu said. "We'll have to wait for Patchouli to return here so that we can discuss about whether we can help Oriko and the rest of the magical girls."

"Yeah. It's not that they wanted to be that way," Marisa said. "If not, we're going to be stuck with endless time reverse without remembering anything after this."

"I'll try asking Yuuno whether he know any magic that can help us with our problems," Signum said.

"Thank you," Reimu said. "We'll appreciate it."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Kirika said. "I'll just kill any witch that I'll encounter."

"That's easy for you to say," Reimu rebuked. "Those witches are originally magical girls just like you. Moreover, we're in a problem where if we couldn't solve it, we'll be stuck in the time reversal."

"I could careless about anything or anyone as long as Oriko is safe," Kirika said as she hugged Oriko.

"Kirika, don't say such thing because it's not nice," Oriko said.

"Oriko, are you angry at me?" Kirika asked in a sad tone.

"Nope, I just want to advice you about that," Oriko replied. "Can you do it for me?"

"I'll do anything as long as it's for you," Kirika said with a smile.

"Good girl," Oriko patted Kirika's head. Kirika curved a big smile the moment she was praised by Oriko. She could not be any happier other than being 'loved' by Oriko. "Speaking of which, where's miss Hayate?"

"She and Vita is currently accompanying Homura at their room," Signum replied. "It seems that girl fall asleep after she cried all the time at Arthra earlier."

"I see," Oriko said.

"I guess we now understand the reason why she showed hostility towards everyone," Nanoha said.

"Yeah," Marisa said. "By the way, shouldn't you go back home by now?"

"Oh, you're right," Nanoha said as she immediatly stood up. "My mind is constantly thinking about miss Madoka and the universe we're currenly in that I forgot about the time."

"Should you accompany miss Madoka?" Signum asked.

"I was planning on doing that earlier, but miss Madoka said that she was fine by herself," Nanoha said in a disappointed tone. "I guess she also need some time alone to accept the harsh truth."

"We need to help them as possible as we could," Oriko said.

"Yeah, including you two too," Marisa said. Oriko only let out a small laugh as she forgot about herself and Kirika.

"I'll be leaving now," Nanoha said as she bowed slightly before she went towards the door.

"Take care," Signum said. Nanoha only smiled while waved her hand before she closed the door.

...

**Mami's apartment (2 AM):**

Alice moaned as she woke up from her sleep just to find out that Mami was not by her side. She slowly sat up and look around the room and could not find Mami anywhere. At first, she guessed that Mami had went to the restroom, but suddenly her instinct told her that something happened to Mami at the moment. So Alice immediately got up from the bed and went outside the bedroom.

"Miss Mami?" Alice called as she walked towards the living room but she could not find Mami there. But the moment she entered the kitchen, her eyes widened as soon as she saw bloods were all over the floor. There she saw Mami was holding a kitchen knife and constantly used it to slice her arms. Alice immediately summoned her dolls to grab and took the knife from Mami's hand, while she grabbed a bandage from the first aid box nearby. "Miss Mami! What're you doing!?"

"It doesn't hurt," Mami said while curving a large smile that anyone would assumed that she had gone insane. "No matter how much I sliced my arms, it doesn't hurt at all... But strange... I tried to destroy my soul gem but... I can't... I..."

Mami stopped speaking as Alice hugged her tightly. Mami struggled to break free from Alice, but Alice did not want to let her go. She finally gave up as she started to feel weak as she did not have any energy left to move. Her tears flowed heavily as she was only able to let out a lout cry.

"I... I'm afraid... I don't want to become a witch... Yet I don't want to die... I'm afraid of dying," Mami said as she sobbed and snorted. "I wanted to destroy my soul gem, but I'm afraid when I think of dying."

"I won't let you die nor become a witch," Alice said. "I... All of us will find a way to save you all."

"But what... if... we couldn't be saved?" Mami asked.

"We'll promise you we'll find a way to save you all," Alice tried to encourage and convince Mami. "So please promise me once again that you won't kill yourself. Please promise me that you'll help us to save Madoka and the others as well as yourself."

"I... promise..." Mami answered while she continued to sob. "Miss Alice, please... promise me... that you'll save me... and everyone... Please... promise me..."

"I'll promise we'll save you all," Alice once again tried to convince Mami. Mami fell on her knees as she continued to let out a loud cry as she buried her face on Alice's chest. Alice only patted Mami's head softly without saying anything anymore.

_Kyuubey! We'll make sure that you'll pay for this!_ Alice thought. If Mami were to look at Alice at that time, she would see that her expression was full of hatred and anger towards something.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: The Tense**

"It seems Mami, Sayaka and Kyoko will be turning into witches sooner than expected," It was night time and Kyuubey muttered to himself as he watched the busy street from the top of a building. "Thanks to the video that the lady showed to them, now I know about Akemi Homura and her plan. Now I just have to convince Madoka to make a contract with me, for their and her sake."

...

Remilia, Patchouli and Shamal were sitting around a table inside the infinity library with some tea in front of them that was served by Sakuya. Remilia only watched Patchouli and Shamal who were busy reading a book that each of them were holding and writing something into a piece of paper. While Yuuno was floating around the library, trying to get every book that Patchouli requested.

"Pache, are you done with it?" Remilia asked.

"It's not as easy as you think," Patchouli replied. "Thorough research and experiment are needed to ensure that it will work effectively. But more importantly, this is the first time I see you care so much about humans."

"Well, let's just say it's to live up my reputation at the outside world amongst those magical girls," Remilia grinned. "Moreover, I just don't like that little white pest cause anymore incidents that will result in disturbing my peaceful life in Gensokyo."

"Ah," Patchouli uttered one word before she set her eyes back on the book. But she did not managed to continue reading as a magic circle appeared near her, radiating with a bright glow. All of them watched Oriko, Kirika, Nanoha, Fate and Arf slowly appeared above the magic circle.

"Good evening," Nanoha greeted with a smile.

"Oriko and Kirika... As well as Nanoha, Fate and Arf," Remilia slowly uttered the name with a small grin. "What brings you all here?"

"Kirika and me are here because Mr. Chrono asked me to meet him at the Arthra," Oriko replied.

"That's right," Kirika said.

"I see," Remilia said.

"As for us, we're here to see whatever you all are doing right now," Arf said.

"Is there something that we can help, miss Patchouli?" Fate asked.

"No, there's isn't," Patchouli replied. "Miss Shamal and Mr. Yuuno had helped me a lot."

"We didn't help you much aside from gathering books and spells and observing you," Shamal said.

"I agree," Yuuno said before he looked at Nanoha, Fate and Arf. "Moreover, miss Patchouli is amazing. She only took a day to learn new languages and she could read lots of books without resting."

"Wow, really!?" Nanoha seemed surprised by Yuuno's remarks. "We do know that miss Patchouli always confined herself inside the study room at miss Oriko's mansion, but we didn't know she's capable of doing that."

"It took me years of patience and endurance to be able to do such thing, as well as having a talent to do so," Patchouli said.

"I see," Nanoha said. "But why did you need Shamal to help you?"

"That's because she's more capable in using healing magic and several other useful magics that I've decided to make use of her specialty," Patchouli replied. "I can't do it alone since I don't enough physical strength to do so."

"Ah."

"Ah, I almost forgot," Oriko said as she shuffeled something inside her pocket. Then she took out several grief seeds and handed it over to Patchouli. "Here's some more grief seeds."

"Thank you. It'll help me more in my experiments with the help of Arthra's magic and technology," Patchouli said. "Are you and the other magical girls all right?"

"I'm fine," Kirika was the one who answered Patchouli's question. "We're not going to get depressed from such revelation. right Oriko?"

"I wouldn't say that we're totally fine with it," Oriko said as she looked at Kirika. "But we have to stay strong so that we can solve and end this problem once and for all. But as for the others..."

...

It was a clear day and every students at Mitakihara middle school were showing their cheerfulness as they met with each other before class starts. Even the teachers were showing their smiling face whenever they encountered with their students. The students talked about everything that they found interesting that they had experienced the day before.

But everyone's friendliness did not brightened Madoka, Sayaka and Mami's mood. The three of them hardly focus on anything since that morning as their mind as constantly occupied by everything regarding soul gem, witches, Kyuubey and Homura as well as everything regarding Reimu, Nanoha and the others.

Madoka occasionally stared at Homura's desk that was positioned at front row of the class. She started to feel worry about Homura since she had not seen her after all of them left Arthra. Then she looked at Sayaka who was sitting at her seat. Usually Sayaka always turned her head around and grinned at her even without any good reason. But that morning Sayaka did not even wait for her like usual when she headed to the school, let alone she was willing to talk to her.

Despite the tense atmosphere that Madoka felt for the past three days, she felt relieved that she had the chance to meet Mami every morning to talk to her. She could see that Mami still managed to curved a smile after several cruel secrets were revealed to all of them. As soon as she heard the school bell rung indicating that it was lunch time, Madoka immediately stood up and walked towards Sayaka.

"Sayaka, shall we have our lunch together?" Madoka asked with a smile.

"Uh, yeah," Sayaka replied in a monotone voice, almost like Homura's attitude. She then stood up and left the classroom with Madoka. Both of them walked upstairs towards the roof top and stopped the moment they saw Mami was also there, sitting on a bench while eating her lunch.

"Mami," Madoka called.

"Ah, hello there," Mami greeted back with a smile. "Are you two here to have your lunch?"

"Yup," Madoka replied.

"I see," Mami said before she looked at Sayaka. "I haven't seen you for a while. How are you?"

"It's none of your business," Sayaka replied. "Moreover, why are you smiling like that?"

"What do you mean?" Mami asked.

"Can't you see we're already dead!? Can't you see that we'll be turned into a witch!? Can't you see that there's no hope for us to be cured!?" Sayaka suddenly rose her voice. Mami was flinced by Sayaka's remarks. She did not expect that Sayaka suddenly started a serious conversation.

"I don't think we can't be cured," Mami said.

"How you can be certain about that?" Sayaka asked. Mami only kept silent since she did not have the answer to Sayaka's question. She only hoped for a small miracle for all of them. "In the end, we will only kill each other."

"I promise you that I won't kill you or anyone," Mami said.

"Don't make promises that you can't keep!" Sayaka shouted. "You saw that in every video that all of us will die no matter what we did! That means that we cannot avoid from killing someone nor from dying!"

"Saya-" Madoka tried to calm Sayaka down.

"Madoka, shut up! You're the only normal human being here, so stay out from this matter!" Sayaka shouted as she looked at Madoka. "Is this why you brought me here? Is it because you want me to meet with Mami just to see her smiling face?"

"No, that's not it," Madoka denied.

"Madoka's right," Mami tried to comfort Sayaka. "I'm here only by coincidence. I didn't know you two will be here."

"Whatever," Sayaka said as she looked at Madoka.

"Sayaka, please don't worry. I'm here to be by your side. So..."

"You don't understand how I felt!" Sayaka shouted. "Why are you the only one who is saved from being a magical girl? You should've become a magical girl by now and share the same fate as us."

"I..." Madoka felt her heart was like being pierced with knife all of the sudden. She could not say anything as she did not expect Sayaka to say such thing to her.

"If you're so concern about me, then make a wish to change me back into normal!"

"Sayaka! You shouldn't said that to Madoka! She's innocent!" Mami said in a serious tone.

"I've had enough! I'm leaving!" Sayaka said in a angry tone before she turned around and left Madoka and Mami behind. Madoka and Mami only watched her in silence as neither of them tried to stop Sayaka and pulled her back into the group.

"I'm sorry, Mami," Madoka said as she bowed slightly towards Mami. "I didn't expect that Sayaka would be angry like that."

"No, it's all right," Mami said. "I'm the one who should apologize. I didn't expect that my expression created such problem. I thought that if I smiled at you two, all of us will be able to stop worrying about the problems that we will face in the near future and try to stay positive. But it looks like I've made a mistake."

"But... aren't you afraid of what will happen to you and Sayaka?" Madoka asked in a concern tone.

"I would be lying if I say I don't," Mami replied. "If fact, I tried to attempt a suicide the night after we were revealed to the videos."

"S-suicide?" Madoka startled. In her mind, she did not expect someone strong like Mami would had such thought.

"Yes," Mami said. "But if it weren't for miss Alice, I would really be dead by now. She gave me hope and she promised that she'll try to find a cure for us. Even just before I left my apartment this morning, I saw her concentrating on writing something on a notebook that she bought."

"B-but if she couldn't find a way to cure you and Sayaka?" Madoka immediately covered her mouth with her hands after she spouted the question. She realized that her question indicated that she was unconfident with Alice's effort to find the cure. Mami only smiled while looking at Madoka before she gazed at the sky.

"At least... I'm happy," Mami replied. "Even if I may end up becoming a witch, I'm happy that miss Alice is trying her hardest to find a way to cure us."

"I... see," Madoka said. Mami could feel that Madoka showed some sadness in her voice.

"Let's not think too much about this matter," Mami said. "Let's have our lunch right now or we'll be late for class."

"U-um yeah," Madoka replied before she sat down near Mami. She did not feel like having her lunch after what Sayaka had just said to her. But she did not want to disappoint Mami, so she had no choice but to stay with her. While she took few bites of her food, Madoka's mind kept recalling whether she had met Reimu and the others before she remembered something. "Mami, I think I've saw and met miss Reimu and the others before."

"Huh? Really? Why all of them looked like they didn't recognized you?" Mami asked.

"I didn't actually met them in the real world," Madoka replied. "I met them once in my dream after we've encountered with miss Remilia and miss Sakuya. But I only remembered my dream just now. So much had happened that I forgot about my dream all this time."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Mami said. "You didn't had any dream of them after that right?"

"Nope," Madoka replied. "But it's too surreal for it to be coincidence because we've really met them in the real world."

"Maybe you have the ability to foresee something," Mami said.

"I wonder..." Madoka trailed off before she continued to eat her lunch.

...

Sayaka took a few minutes to wash her face before she left the rest room and walked as fast as she could towards the classroom. But as soon as she sat down on her chair, Hitomi suddenly approached her with a smile.

"Sayaka, can we talk about something?" Hitomi asked.

"Yes, what is it?" Sayaka asked. She tried to remain calm since she did not want to put her anger towards Hitomi who was not involved with magical girls's matter.

"Le't have a walk while talking," Hitomi said. Sayaka only nodded before she stood up and walked out of the classroom with Hitomi.

...

"It's been three days after the truth that we've saw..." Reimu sighed as she, Oriko and Hayate walked at the mansion's corridor with some food and drink with them.

"We can't blame her too much," Oriko said.

"All of them saw something horrible that is going to happen to them, their morale must've been down considerably," Hayate said. "Even all of us were shocked to see the truth."

Reimu only listened to what Hayate had just said before the three of them stopped in front of a door which led them to a large bedroom. The room was a bit dark as they entered it since the window was covered by curtains. Its gloomy atmosphere that Reimu, Oriko and Hayate felt described the feeling of the person who was inside the room, that is Homura who's back was facing them.

Homura only kept staring blankly at the wall while laying on the bed without bothering to turn around to look at Reimu, Oriko and Hayate. Ever since the truth was revealed at the Arthra, Homura seemed to have a blank mind. She could not think of any plan on how to save Madoka now that Kyuubey had know her secret.

The only thing that she could do was to reset the time and go back into the past to start all over again once more. But she felt that her effort will become useless since Yukari and everyone at the Arthra will not be affected by it. Moreover, Reimu had sealed her shield to prevent her completely from using her magic.

"How long are you going to ignore us and sulk like this?" Reimu asked. "You should be grateful that Oriko let you stay here."

"It's alright miss Reimu," Oriko said with a smile before she walked near the bed and put down the food tray. "I'll put your food and drink here. Make sure you eat up so that you won't get ill."

There was no response from Homura. Reimu started to feel annoyed just by watching Homura's attitude that she walked towards her and grabbed her by the collar. Homura was shocked to see Reimu's action and she was flinched as Reimu's eyes met hers. She clearly saw Reimu looked at her with an annoyed face.

"I had enough of your attitude," Reimu said in an annoyed tone. "Before you showed a cold, strong and calm attitude, but now you're just cowering in the darkness."

"Miss Reimu, calm down please. Nothing good comes from scolding miss Homura in her state right now," Hayate said in a calm and respect voice. Reimu let out a big frown before she took a deep breath and let go of Homura's collar. She could not help herself from trying to scold Homura but at the same time she realized that Hayate's words also made a little bit sense.

"Look, what I don't understand is that why you didn't try to protect the girl named Kaname Madoka like usual anymore," Reimu said.

"That's because... you put up a seal on my shield and didn't let me use my time magic to reverse the time," Homura said in a weak voice as she turned her ring into her soul gem. Reimu could see Homura's eyes started to fill with tears.

"I cannot let you use your magic again because it caused a lot of problems and affected us all before," Reimu said. "Who knows what other problems lies if you use your time reverse magic again."

"But if I don't use my magic, then I won't be able to save Madoka," Homura pleaded. "Please... Let me use my magic once more. Just this once, please."

"Why do you think you'll not be able to save miss Madoka?" Oriko asked.

"That's because Kyuubey had already know my plan since he witnessed everything three days ago," Homura replied. "There's no way that my plan in protecting Madoka will succeed."

"But miss Madoka also witnessed the truth about magical girls," Hayate said. "I don't think that she will ever make a contract with Kyuubey."

"You're wrong," Homura said. "Kyuubey will do anything to make Madoka make a wish and form a contract with him. Even if it means to sacrifice everyone."

"So that means that everyone killing each other like what we saw in the video was part of Kyuubey's plan?" Oriko asked.

"Yes," Homura nodded.

"But your way of saving Madoka is no better than Kyuubey's plan," Reimu said. "You sacrificed other people to save only her."

"I..." Homura tried to say something but upon hearing Reimu's remarks, her tears started to flow down her cheeks. She quickly covered her face with her hands. Reimu only sighed as she saw Homura suddenly became a weak person. She did not know whether she should criticize her or not.

"Have you tried to save everyone beside Madoka before, namely Sakura Kyoko, Tomoe Mami and Miki Sayaka?" Reimu asked with a softer tone.

"Y-yes," Homura replied. "But they wouldn't listened to me no matter what I did nor what I tried to make them trust me."

"Ah, I remember that you told us about it at the Arthra," Hayate said and Homura only nodded in silence.

"Who would've trust you if you being too cold towards them," Reimu said.

"I-I know, but I had no other choice," Homura said.

"You shouldn't give up this time," Oriko said. "Now that they know the truth, I'm sure they will let themselves into despair, kill themselves or each other. This is a chance for you to save them without being a cold person."

"Don't you want to change something, for their sake as well as yours?" Hayate asked.

"I... do... but..." Homura tried to conveyed her thought into words. But she was still unconfident to take some actions.

"Then you should do something to change something," Reimu interrupted. "Everything wouldn't change if you don't take a step forward."

"But..." Homura only trailed away. She knew that what Reimu had just said was true, but she could not hide the fact that she was afraid to try something again in the current timeline. In her mind, she was afraid of any unsuccessful result that will lead her to grief.

"It doesn't matter if Kyuubey already knew your plan," Oriko smiled. "The most important thing is that you should change your plan in order to save your friends, even if you all hurt each other along the way."

"That's right," Hayate said. She then took a breath before she continued. "Before I became friends with Nanoha, Fate and Arf, my familiars used to fight with them whenever they encountered with each other as they were trying to cure me from my illness. But my illness couldn't be cured since it was the old system of my book of darkness itself that was the source of it."

"Book of darkness?" Reimu interrupted.

"Yes, it's my magic device," Hayate replied. "My magic device was with me the whole time before Signum and the others appeared in my life and it was the one that caused my disability due to its corrupted magic system. When I finally gave up the hope to continue living due to some conflict, my magic device started to go out of control and arbsorbed me. But Nanoha and Fate didn't gave up in saving me while they're trying to stop my device. That's when I realized that I need to change something. I've then decided to change the corrupted system of my magic so that it wouldn't caused anymore harm. In the end me and my family as well as the whole world was saved from the destruction that my magic could've cause, thanks to Nanoha, Fate as well as Admiral Lindy and the rest of Arthra crew."

"That's quite an interesting story," Reimu said in an impressed tone. Hayate only giggled in response.

"B-but, do you think that I'll be able to do like what you and your friends did? Am I capable to save everyone?" Homura hesitantly asked.

"I'm sure you do," Hayate replied.

"The problem you're having right now is that you've lost your confident and you're not like you usually was before," Reimu said.

"I-I... I'm not really a strong person like you've thought I am," Homura said. "The truth is that I'm a weak person who's trying to act tough. I don't want to be 'bullied' by Mami and the others, that's why I've acted cold and determined in front of them. I tried to be tough so that they will respect me and won't make fun of me."

"But whatever you did before only caused disrespect and fear in them towards you," Oriko said. "If you want to change something then you should try to save everyone, not just miss Madoka."

"Then what should I do?" Homura asked. "I couldn't think anymore on how to prevent Madoka from making a contract. I even failed to protect Sayaka. Now that everyone saw my true self, I can't even show my face around. I'm really embarrassed with myself."

"You don't need to force yourself to act tough and cold like you've used to," Oriko said. "You'll only have to show your determination and sincerity in trying to help and guide them with a warm and gentle attitude."

"Sometimes you have to use force if you want someone to understand you," Reimu said.

"I agree," Hayate said. "Even Nanoha and Fate used to fight with Signum and the others to make them understand that what they've done was wrong even though their intention of trying to save me was good. Though it's not really good to use brute force all the time."

"So does that mean I have to use force to make them understand?" Homura asked.

"Only if calm negotiation isn't going to work, so you should smack their head so that they will come to their senses," Reimu replied.

"But what if I couldn't do it? What if I fail again? What if my further action only caused more problems?" Homura continued to ask.

"You should try before you say you couldn't," Oriko adviced softly as she touched Homura's hand softly. "We're here to help you so you're not alone now. Moreover, you're the one who knows everything about Kyuubey and his plot. So you shouldn't give up and just let Kyuubey do what he wants."

"Thank you," Homura said as she slowly let out several sob. She felt touched with Oriko, Reimu and Hayate's encouragement. For all this time, she was alone and no one except believed in her. But she felt that she now have the chance to save Madoka from Kyuubey. But now she needed to bear in mind that she should help Sayaka and the rest from turning into the witch. "You're different now. Oriko from other timeline weren't as nice as you. On the other hand, Kirika is still crazy as always."

"E-ermm, t-thank you," Oriko stuttered nervously as that was the first time Homura praised her. She could feel that Homura had soften up from the way she talked.

"Oh, that Kirika girl is really crazy because she always entered the mansion through the window," Reimu said as she let out a sigh. "Not to mention that her emotions always swings from cheerful to being absurd."

"You two, it's not nice to say bad things to anyone, especially miss Kirika," Hayate rebuked with a smile. Both Reimu and Homura only looked at Hayate before they nodded in response. They immediately felt that Hayate was more mature than them that she did not agree with what they had just said. "Speaking of which, I haven't see her today. Where did she went off to?"

"I think she's still at her school," Oriko replied. "Moreover, I asked her to do something for me."

"Something?" Reimu asked.

"Yes, it's about something related to miss Madoka and her friends," Oriko replied before she saw Homura's face showed concerned face. Oriko quickly smiled at Homura and said, "Don't worry. It's not that I'm going to hurt them. You can rest assure."

"Okay," Homura said.

"As for your magic, since you have your soul gem I think I can teach you how to use a spell card," Reimu said.

"Spell card?" Homura asked.

"This one..." Oriko trailed off as she took out a card and held it up into the air. In just a second, the cards glowed and flashed before seven colourful shards formed around her.

"So this is the magic that you've used before," Homura said.

"Yes, and I don't have to materialize into my magical girl outfit to use the spell card although it still consumed my soul gem's magic source," Oriko said. "But spell cards gives me a lot of advantage because it provides me with different types of magic."

"I see," Homura said. "But you're wiling to teach me how to use it even though I'm your enemy?"

"Let's just leave the dispute we had all this time as a past which had gone a long time ago," Reimu said. "But I won't undo my seal on your magic."

"T-thank you," Homura said.

"By the way miss Homura, can you give further detail about the large witch that you've fought in the other timeline?" Hayate asked in a serious tone. "Admiral Lindy would like to collect details of the witch."

"Alright, I'll tell you everything right from the start including the one that you all had already saw in the video including stories about Oriko and Kirika in the other timeline," Homura said.

...

"Oh, I'm really bored," Marisa said while stretching her body. "I feel like I don't have anything to do."

"Then maybe you should help us more in searching witches rather than lazing around," Vita suggested.

"Hey, I've already helping you alright," Marisa rebuked. She looked at Signum, Vita and Zafira who were at the living room with her. "I've gotta admit, you three look fine when killing the witches even after all that happened at the Arthra."

"You shouldn't expect us to get depressed from being guilty after killing the witches all this time," Vita said.

"I agree," Signum said. "Although it does bother me a little bit the moment I knew that the witches were originally from magical girls, but we have no choice but the fight them so that no more casualties will occour."

"The best way for us to free them from their cruel fate is to kill their witch form," Zafira said.

"Well, I couldn't agree more with you three," Marisa grinned before she set her eyes at the outside of the window and muttered. "I just wish that this miserable fate end quickly."

...

The school bell rung as school time had already ended and every student packed all their belongings as they were getting ready to go home. Some of them also had to go to their respective club room to do their usual club activities, while some went somewhere with their friends.

Madoka tried to pack her belongings as fast as she could the moment she saw Sayaka had already left the classroom. It seemed to her that Sayaka had packed her belongings before school time ended. By the moment Madoka went out of her classroom, Sayaka was nowhere to be seen.

"Sayaka, why did you left too soon?" Madoka muttered.

"Yo, girl. Are you waiting for me?" A voice asked.

"Huh?" Madoka uttered as she turned around to look at the person who seemed to be asking her and saw Kirika. "Miss Kirika? What're you doing here?"

"You're more dumber than you look. I didn't expect that you didn't know I'm a student here," Kirika replied while sighing.

"I-I'm sorry," Madoka said in a sad tone as she felt Kirika was humiliating her. "Is there something you need from me?"

"No, but Oriko wants me to check up on you all," Kirika said while scratching her head. "Where's your blonde and blue haired friends?"

"I haven't meet Mami, but I think Sayaka had already left the school," Madoka replied.

"Ah, I see," Kirika said in a bored tone before she started walking. "Well, seeing you're fine and well so I think I'll be going for now. See ya."

"O-okay," Madoka said as she watched Kirika walked away from her. After a few second, she started walking and immediately left the school. She was planning on trying to catch up with Sayaka, but she immediately discontinued her intention since she thought that Sayaka did not want to be disturbed.

...

Sayaka walked slowly as if she did not have any energy left to do anything. Her mind kept replaying her memories of Hitomi who had told that she wanted to confess her love to Kamijou if Sayaka did not take her first step. The moment she heard what Hitomi had to say to her during the lunch time, she felt that the world around her started to become dark. Her heart started pounding hard like it was going to burst and shatter into pieces.

Suddenly Sayaka stopped the moment she saw someone she knew was leaning against a wall; Sakura Kyoko. It seemed to her that Kyoko was waiting for either Madoka, Mami or her to pass by. But Sayaka did not feel like she wanted to talk or possibly fight with her. So she tried to ignore Kyoko and walked away.

"Hey, hey. You're really rude," Kyoko spoke. "At least you should give a little greet."

"What do you want?" Sayaka asked. "I'm not in the mood to talk to anybody. If you want to find someone to fight, you should fight Mami then."

"I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to check up on everyone," Kyoko said.

"Huh, that's unusual of you," Sayaka said. "I didn't expect someone selfish who let famliars kill humans like you will care about us."

"Whatever," Kyoko said. "I haven't saw you nor Mami for the past three days. So I thought that..."

"You thought that I've already become a witch? That's what you're expecting so that you can just kill me for my grief seed?" Sayaka asked in a serious tone.

"Would you stop your negative thoughts?" Kyoko rebuked.

"Whatever, don't bother me," Sayaka said as she started walking. But she did not managed to walked away as Kyoko suddenly grabbed and pulled her left hand. Sayaka glared at Kyoko and said in an angry tone. "Hey, would you let go of me?"

"Show me your soul gem!" Kyoko demanded in a serious tone.

"Why would you want me to do that, huh?"

"Show me or I'll break your arm!" Kyoko said. Sayaka at first decided to changed into her magical girl outfit and beat Kyoko up, but she knew that she could not stand a chance against her. So she had no choice but to materialize her soul gem and show it to Kyoko. Kyoko widened her eyes the moment she saw Sayaka's soul gem. "Hey, why haven't you cleanse you soul gem until it got too much taint?"

"It's none of your business," Sayaka said while trying to avoid making eye contact with Kyoko.

"It's my business because I don't want you to become a witch, and I don't want to kill you if you become one," Kyoko said. "You still have the chance to live your life to its fullest. You still have someone dear to you, waiting for you."

"Don't you talk about my life as if you know what I've been through right now!" Sayaka shouted. "I don't think that I'll be able to escape from my fate like the in the videos of myself that I've watched three days ago! Moreover, I don't want someone selfish like you to advice me to do something!"

"Why did you always have to have negative thoughts?" Kyoko muttered before she put her hand into her pocket and took out a grief seed. She tried to cleanse Sayaka's soul gem, but Sayaka suddenly pushed her hand until she dropped the grief seed. "Hey! I'm trying to help you here!"

"Like I said, it's none of your business!" Sayaka said as she pulled away her left hand. "Now if you excuse me, I need to go!"

Kyoko gritted her teeth as she watched Sayaka immediately left her after saying such thing. She was trying so hard to help Sayaka but Sayaka only rejected her without further thoughts. It was a fact in Kyoko's mind that she did not like the idea of everything to happen like what she saw in the video of herself in the other timeline.

"You jerk, I'm not doing this for myself!" Kyoko shouted. Sayaka only ignored her without even turning to look at her. Kyoko clenched her hands in frustration to see Sayaka's behaviour before she walked away opposite of direction where Sayaka headed to.

...

"Miss Alice, I need your advice," Mami suddenly spoke while Alice and her were waiting for Alice's doll to finish preparing some tea at the kitchen.

"What is it?" Alice asked in a curious tone.

"You see... this afternoon I met with Madoka and Sayaka during lunch time at school," Mami said. "I greeted them with a smile, hoping that it'll help ease their distress. But Sayaka suddenly got angry and shouted that I'm not being serious about the matter regarding magical girls will turn into witches. She even yelled at Madoka for being the only one who is safe from such fate. I told Sayaka to stop, but she immediately left the two of us. Now I feel lost and I don't know what I should do."

"I see," Alice said with a nod after she listened carefully to Mami's confide. "I think your emotions somehow wasn't suitable at a time like this so that's why miss Sayaka was angry with a thought that you was carefree about the truth."

"Yes, I do realized that the moment Sayaka rebuked my smiling face," Mami said in a sad tone.

"What's done is done," Alice said as she patted Mami's head to ease Mami from feeling distressed about the matter. "I don't think that miss Sayaka was serious about what she had said to you and miss Madoka. I believe that she was afraid of becoming a witch so that's why she behaved like that. You should find some time for you to properly apologize to her and tell her that you didn't mean to take everything lightly. I'm sure that when she cool down she'll listen to you."

"Okay," Mami replied. Silence broke out as the two of them took a few sip of their tea that had been already served while they were exchanging thoughts earlier. But it did not took long as they suddenly heard someone rung Mami's door bell.

"I wonder who that is," Mami muttered as she stood up and walked towards the door. The moment she opened it, she was a little surprised to see Kyoko was the person who was waiting outside. She did not expect for Kyoko to show up at her apartment. "Kyoko?"

"Yo," Kyoko only uttered one word. The two of them only looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Well since you've came all the way here, come in," Mami said.

Kyoko only nodded before she came in. Her eyes immediately stared at some dolls that were hoveing around her as she continued to walked towards the living room. She recognized the dolls were belong to Alice who she had fought several days ago. The dolls stopped and seemed to look at Kyoko before it resumed their work. The she fixed her eyes at Alice who was sitting on the floor.

"Heh, you're also here," Kyoko grinned. "I can see both of you are healthy and well."

"Thank you for your compliment, miss Kyoko," Alice said with a smile. "I'm staying here at miss Mami's apartment, so that's why I'm here."

"Oi, you're letting some stranger stay with you?" Kyoko asked as she looked at Mami.

"Why? Are you jealous?" Alice asked in a teasing tone. Kyoko only glared at Alice without saying anything.

"I assume that you want to discuss something with us since you're willing to meet us," Mami said.

"Well, yeah. If I don't have some business with you I wouldn't want to be here," Kyoko said while she sat down. A doll slowly approached her with a tea cup that had already been filled with some tea and put it down on the table in front of her. Kyoko stared at the tea before she took a sip. "I'm here to talk about that Sayaka girl. She's acting all strange. I was trying to help her cleanse her soul gem earlier but she rejected. Then she just walked away from me."

"What happened to her soul gem?" Mami asked.

"Half of her soul gem had already tainted," Kyoko said in a serious tone. "If we just let her on her own, I'm afraid that she'll become a witch just like in the video of her other self in other timeline."

"So why did you let her walked away?" Alice asked.

"I can't help it," Kyoko replied. "If I decided to follow her, I assume that she'll use her magic and provoke a fight with me. That'll be bad for her soul gem. I can't take her down alone since she's capable of healing herself faster than average."

"That's a good point," Alice said before she then smiled at Kyoko. "I didn't expect someone like you is concern with miss Sayaka."

"I just don't want something like in the video happen, that's all," Kyoko said. "Man, what's wrong with you people? Is this the first time you see me being this kind?"

"Yes," Alice nodded instantly. Kyoko only silently looked at Alice who kept smiling at her.

"I hope that Sayaka didn't do something rash," Mami said. Then Mami suddenly remembered something about Sayaka. "Her courage may or may not bring her into darkness..."

"What're you mumbling about?" Kyoko asked. Mami looked at both Alice and Kyoko who were waiting for her answer.

"I remembered that miss Remilia once said that Sayaka's courage may or may not bring her into darkness when we first met her. I feel that this is what she meant by it," Mami answered, repeating the phrase she had just uttered.

"Remilia?" Kyoko raised her eye brow before she could recalled Remilia's face. "You mean the girl with pink dress and a pair of bat wings?"

"Yes," Mami replied. Then she looked at Alice and asked, "what should we do now?"

"I think that miss Sayaka will likely to go to the train station if she's going to turn into a witch," Alice said.

"How do you know that?" Kyoko asked while raising her eyebrow.

"I carefully watched the video and noticed that she went to the exact same place," Alice replied.

"I think we need to find Sayaka and force her to cleanse her soul gem now," Mami said in a concerned tone. "I'm afraid that she'll become a witch soon."

"I agree," Alice said. "I think I'll email and inform Marisa and the others on this matter."

"I'm coming too," Kyoko said. The three of them headed towards the door. They suddenly stopped the moment they saw Kirika was standing outside Mami's room apartment as soon as Mami opened the door.

"Miss Kirika!? What're you doing here? How did you know I live here?" Mami asked.

"Oriko told me," Kirika grinned. "I'm here to check up on you, just like Oriko requested. Seeing that you two are okay, I guess I'm gonna check up on that blue haired girl."

"You know where Sayaka is right now?" Kyoko hastily asked.

"Hey, I'm not her babysitter so I don't know where she is," Kirika replied.

"Miss Kirika, could you tell Oriko and the others that miss Sayaka is likely to transform into a witch?" Alice asked. "I've already emailed them. But I'm not sure if they'll receive it or not."

"Okay~" Kirika replied. She immediately changed into her magical girl outfit as she turned around and jumped off the building.

"Hmph, what a showoff," Kyoko muttered in a low voice. But Alice could hear Kyoko clearly and smiled at her.

"I'm surprised that words came from you," Alice said.

"Shut up," Kyoko rebuked. Alice only kept smiling at Kyoko, much to annoy her more. Mami looked at both Alice and Kyoko, while wondering what they were just talking about since she did not paid attention to their convesation.

"Let's go," Mami said. Alice and Kyoko looked at her and nodded before they started walking.

...

"I'm getting a headache," Reimu grunted. "I can't believe that Sayaka is so stupid to let herself into grief even after watching the videos of her other self. I expect that she could learn to avoid from that kind of situation."

"Every young girl who are living a normal life would fall into sadness after they've found out about some cruel fate that will befall upon them," Signum said. "I believe we're also at fault for letting them watch the video."

"The important thing is that I'm not the one at fault because I'm not the one who showed the video," Reimu said.

"Miss Yukari's the one at fault and its your responsible for that," Vita said.

"Why am I responsible for her plan!?" Reimu asked in an annoyed tone. "I'm also being dragged into this problem."

"Now, now. We shouldn't argue over whose fault in this problem," Hayate tried to calm Vita and Reimu down. She could see that everyone was in tense after all of them received an email from Alice.

"That's right," Yukari said with a small laugh. At that time Nanoha used her Raging Heart to use a video communication between all of the residents of Oriko's mansion with Chrono and Yukari who were at the Arthra.

"You don't have the right to laugh," Reimu said. "This is all your fault so you should help us."

"I'll be leaving this problem at your hands," Yukari said with a smile before she opened up a gap.

"Yukar-" Reimu tried to speak but Yukari had already entered the gap before it slowly closed up. "That old hag youkai... I'll make sure I'll punch you when I return to Gensokyo."

"We need to find Sayaka as soon as possible and have her soul gem purify," Homura said. "There's not much time left if her soul gem was tainted."

"The only problem is that she was nowhere to be found," Kirika said while putting her hands at the back of her head. "Maybe she had already became a witch and kill anyone she see."

"We can't lose hope before we can confirm about it," Oriko said.

"She always went to an isolated train station before she turned into her witch form," Homura said.

"Ah, Alice also mentioned something like that in her email," Oriko said.

"So we need to head there right now," Fate suggested.

"Couldn't you just use your teleportation magic to save time?" Marisa asked while looking at Nanoha and Fate.

"The problem is that we'll create a ruckus if she's at a place with lots of people when we teleport to the train station," Arf replied instead of Nanoha or Fate.

"That's a good point," Marisa said while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Maybe we can put up our barrier to isolate normal human from those with magical powers," Zafira suggested.

"That's a good idea," Vita said. "That'll make it easier for us to teleport there."

"Alice and her blonde friend had already went to search for that girl. Even that arrogant Kyoko also help them at the moment," Marisa said.

"I didn't expect someone like her to help miss Alice and miss Mami," Vita said.

"She's probably don't want to let Sayaka to lose hope," Homura said. "After all, Sayaka got depressed after one of her friends decided to confess her love to someone who Sayaka also fall in love with."

"She got all depressed from that!?" Reimu seemed surprised with the fact. "Man, I don't understand youngsters today."

"I think you know how it feels to be broken hearted," Hayate said.

"Well... I... Uh... Put aside that matter and back to the topic..." Reimu suddenly stuttered as she tried to reply. That was the first time Hayate saw Reimu stuttered that much but she decided did not to ask Reimu anything.

"Chrono, can you ask Amy to try and search for miss Sayaka from the Arthra?" Nanoha asked.

"I'll try and ask her, but we may end up fail because searching for a person also takes time," Chrono replied.

"Thank you."

"Is there anything else you want me to do?" Chrono asked.

"No, I think that's all for now," Nanoha answered. "We'll contact you again if there's anything come up."

"I understand. We'll see what we can do here and I'll try to update you all with latest information as soon as we obtain it," Chrono said before he disconnected the video call. All of them looked at each other for merely a few seconds before Reimu finally stood up.

"Alright, we need to find Sayaka as fast as we can," Reimu said.

"I agree," Homura said. "Since I know which train station she went in the past timeline, I'll lead all of you the way."

"Thank you miss Homura," Hayate said. "I'm happy that you've started to change and become more nicer than before."

"U-uh, yeah. You're welcome," Homura replied in a calm but embarrassed tone. "You don't need to be too formal with me. Just call me Homura."

"Alright, Homura," Hayate replied with a smile.

"I think you also should drop the formal speech when talking to me from now on. I'm okay with you all just calling me Marisa," Marisa said with a grin. "After all, we're all friends."

"I agree," Oriko and Reimu said.

"Well since Oriko said that, you shouldn't talk to me with formal attitudes since it creeps me out," Kirika said.

"That includes you too, Oriko and also Homura," Reimu said.

"Ah, r-right," both Oriko and Homura hastily replied.

"If you say so," Nanoha said. Fate and the others only nodded in agreement.

"I think you should also drop your formal speech when talking to us too since all of us will be doing that," Fate said.

"Fine with me," Marisa said.

"Well now, we should get going," Reimu said.

"Reimu, shouldn't we call Patchouli for help?" Oriko asked.

"Oh, you're right," Reimu said before she turned towards Fate. "Could you go and tell them that we need their help as fast as they could?"

"Alright," Fate said. All of them stood up and immediately left the mansion to start their mission on searching for Sayaka.

...

The sun had already set as Madoka was on her way home from the shopping mall, indicating it was already night time. She felt lonely now that Mami and especially Sayaka was not with her. But she had not no choice but to take a walk to calm herself down. Her mind was filled with lots of thoughts that kept appearing no matter how hard she tried to stop thinking.

(I'm just useless...)

_No, I'm not useless_, Madoka thought.

(I only caused trouble to Sayaka, Mami and miss Alice...)

_No, I'm not_, Madoka tried to comfort herself.

(I failed as a friend because I couldn't help Sayaka when she need someone the most... I'm a failure... I'm just a dumb girl who have lots of fantasies...)

_Please... Stop..._ Madoka tried to divert from her negative thoughts, but her mind kept replaying the word that had came out form Sayaka's mouth during lunch time that afternoon.

"I can see that you need help," Kyuubey who appeared out of nowhere said. Madoka glanced at him in silence without responding. "I think this is the best time for you to make a wish so that you can help Sayaka and the others."

"But if I make a wish with you, that means I'll become a magical girl," Madoka said.

"That's correct," Kyuubey said.

"No! I wouldn't make a contract with you!" Madoka said.

"Your friends needs you," Kyuubey said. "Since you've already know the truth about witches, I suppose that I should tell you that Sayaka will become a witch by the end of the day."

"Eh? That's not true, right? You're only lying to me so that I would make a wish and form a contract with you," Madoka said.

"I'm not capable in lying," Kyuubey said. "I only tell the truth."

"I don't believe you!" Madoka said as she covered her ears. In her mind she kept repeating a thought, _Help me!_

I can hear you...

"Eh?" Madoka uttered one word. At first, she thought that the voice that she heard in her mind belonged to Kyuubey. But she quickly shrugged off the thought since the voice seemed belonged to a little girl.

Do you want any help?

"Who's there?" Madoka asked while looking aimlessly around her but she could not see anyone.

"What do you mean by 'who's there'?" Kyuubey asked curiously.

"Didn't you heard a voice just now?" Madoka asked.

"No, I didn't," Kyuubey replied.

That creature won't be able to hear me... You're the only one who can hear me clearly, and I'm the only one who can hear you calling for help...

"Eh?"

Come here... I'm close to you... Come here...

Madoka was unsure whether she should follow what the voice had just told her or not. But she felt that she could trust the voice since the voice was not belonged to Kyuubey. So she slowly headed towards the direction where the voice led her, while Kyuubey followed her from behind with full of curiousity. After Madoka and Kyuubey walked for a few metres, the two of them finally arrived at a small park filled with various flowers.

Come here... I'm not going to harm you... I'm just protecting you from that creature... I can hear your heart calling for help... Calling to me...

Madoka walked towards dozens of flowers and stopped as soon as she saw a small oval shaped gem lying on the ground. Faint blue light beautifully radiated from the gem with continuous pulse, just like when Madoka saw Mami's soul gem glowed when they were at some witch hunt. In fact Madoka sensed that it was pounding almost like a heartbeat.

"What is this? A soul gem?" Madoka widened her eyes. But as she slowly touched the gem with her fingertips, she suddenly felt dazzling sensation inside her heart. Magic circle slowly formed under Madoka as her school uniform changed into a magical girl outfit.

"Madoka, how did you obtain magical powers?" Kyuubey immediately asked as he could feel enormous magical energy radiated from Madoka. But he did not receive any response from Madoka. "I clearly remember that you haven't make a wish and form a contract with me. Is it because of that gem? I don't believe that there's another magical source other from what I had given to other girls."

"Shut up, you stupid white cat-like creature," Madoka finally spoke. "I'm started to get annoyed of your noisy and pathetic telepathic communication. Why don't you use your mouth to say something, huh?"

"Madoka, this is the first time..." Kyuubey did not managed to finish his sentence as his body suddenly was engulfed in fire. He tried to roll his body on the ground to put off the fire, but his effort proved to no avail. Finally his body was burnt into crisp, leaving a lump of black ashes.

"Didn't I tell you to use your puny mouth to talk to me?" Madoka said. "Just because you're cute doesn't mean I don't have a heart to kill you right at this moment."

"... You seem to forget that I wouldn't die easily even if you try to kill me," Kyuubey said as he appeared from the bush. "You just made me waste my spare body because you think you can get rid of..."

"He he he! I can do this all night until you're satisfy, Kyuubey!" Madoka let out a small creepy giggle as she swung her hand at an empty air. Just in a second Kyuubey could see something looked like a blade formed and accelerated towards him before it cut his body into pieces. Madoka looked around her before she started activating a magic circle below her and slowly vanished into the thin air. "It seems I need to get used to my magic and search for the other gems. I have to fulfil my wish."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: The Twisted Fate**

All the residents of Oriko's mansion walked as fast as they could, heading towards the train station that Homura led them at that moment. They could not afford to waste anymore time since they were concerned that Sayaka will be turning into her witch form before they arrive.

Despite the busy street that night Reimu and Marisa's clothing did attracted most of the pedestrians attention to look at both of them, especially since Marisa wore her hat and brought her broom with her. But they ignored them both after that since they thought that Reimu and Marisa were just some anime fanatics who were wearing some weird clothes. Despite those awkward attention that the two girls received, they also simply ignored the people around them as long as it did not disturb their current mission. Oriko, Nanoha and the others were the only ones who felt a bit uneasy to see other people stared at them as they passed by.

"We're here," Homura said as soon as they arrived in front of a train station.

"We need to hurry," Marisa said. All of them nodded in response and immediately entered the station. It did not took them long before they reached the train platform. They immediately met up with Alice, Mami and Kyoko since there was no one at the station other than them at that time.

"You've all arrive," Alice said.

"You three sure are fast," Vita said before she looked around. "So where is that girl?"

"Should you bother to ask that question even when you didn't saw her here?" Kyoko rebuked. Vita only sighed while shrugging her shoulders as she did not have the mood to respond to Kyoko.

"Does that mean she's not here?" Hayate asked.

"Yes," Mami replied. "We've tried to search for her but we couldn't find her anywhere at this train station."

"That's impossible," Homura said. "She always went to this train station in other timeline."

"Maybe its because of our intervention created some changes in this timeline," Nanoha said while putting her hand under her chin.

"That makes sense," Hayate said. "What should we do now?"

"I think we need to split up and search for her," Reimu suggested.

"Wouldn't it better if you put up your barrier already to make the search easier?" Marisa asked.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Nanoha said. "We can also use the data that Amy just sent to us."

"Data?" Reimu asked.

"Something that'll make us easier to find someone who possess the soul gem," Nanoha replied. "As you can see, the soul gems and the witches seems to have similar wavelength. We're certain of this since Admiral Lindy had asked the research team to analyze Oriko's soul gem yesterday. So we could just use the data to help us with our search."

"But wouldn't it be a problem since there's a lot of familiars, witches and possibly other magical girls around here?" Marisa asked.

"I think its better for us to use the data that miss Nanoha mentioned rather than trying to aimlessly search for miss Sayaka," Alice said.

"I agree," Signum said. "Since this city is too large for us, using the data will help narrowing our search area."

"Mami, where's Madoka?" Homura asked in a concerned tone the moment she noticed Madoka was not with Alice and the rest.

"She didn't came to my aparment this evening. Maybe she's at her home right now," Mami replied. She noticed changes in Homura's attitude, but she decided to ignore the matter at the moment.

"Reimu, we need to head to Madoka's house fast," Homura hastily said in a panic tone.

"Hey calm down," Reimu said while scratching her head.

"B-but if she made a contract with Kyuubey, then-" Homura tried to explain her thoughts, but Alice immediately interrupted her.

"We'll head to miss Madoka's house and you'll lead the way," Alice said.

"O-okay," Homura said. Everyone could see Homura looked restless despite what Alice had just said. Alice, Mami and Kyoko felt awkward as they looked at Homura's new and weird attitude since she always stuck up with her cold attitude everytime they encountered with her.

"We need to wait for Fate and the rest," Nanoha said. In just a few second, she saw Fate, followed by Arf, Patchouli and Shamal arrived at the train station's entrance. "Ah, there they are."

"Sorry we're late," Fate said. Since Homura had already gave Fate the direction that she should follow to get to the station, she had no problem in getting there as fast as she could.

"Where's miss Sayaka?" Shamal asked.

"She's not here," Reimu replied

"Any clue where she's heading to?" Patchouli asked.

"No, there isn't," Kyoko shrugged her shoulders.

"That girl sure gives us a problem," Arf said.

"We couldn't completely blame her," Fate said.

"I'll put up a barrier now," Nanoha said as she changed her clothes into her barrier jacket. Then she held up her magic device and asked, "Raising Heart, can you put up Temporal Force Field around Mitakihara City?"

[_All right. Putting up barrier._]

In just a few seconds, Reimu and the others could see the colourful world immediately changed into hue. They could also felt that the once noisy city suddenly became silent like a dead graveyard. All of them immediately left the train station and saw that the city was void of any living creatures, including humans.

"What's happening here?" Kyoko spoked. "I remembered that I encountered this phenomena before."

"This is what its like when we've put up our barrier," Zafira said. "All of living things will disappear, leaving out those who have magical potential."

"Simply put, we're currently inside another dimension that separates us from anyone who didn't have any magic device nor any potentially mages," Vita continued.

"O~kay~," Kyoko trailed off while trying to comprehend what Zafira and Vita had just explained. She finally shrugged off the explaination since she could not even understand the technical process that she had just listened.

"Where should we go now?" Arf asked.

"We'll divide into three groups since some of us will be heading to Madoka's house," Reimu stated her suggestion for the second time.

"Sounds good to me," Arf said. "We'll communicate with each other telephatically if one of the groups found miss Sayaka."

"By the way, we've all agreed that we should drop out our formal conversation since we're treating each other as close friends now," Marisa said as she looked at Alice, Patchouli, Shamal, Mami and Kyoko.

"Then I have no objection if everyone agree with it," Patchouli casually responded.

"So that means I should as well talk casually?" Alice asked.

"Yup," Nanoha was the one who replied with a smile. "So you can call me Nanoha."

"Alright Nanoha," Alice said. Then she looked at Mami and Kyoko. "Since we're going to do that, so I prohibit you two from talking formally with all of us."

"O-okay, miss... I mean, Alice," Mami hastily replied.

"Fine by me," Kyoko said. "After all, I don't like to talk too formal to you all. It creeps me out."

"That's because you're a creepy person yourself," Kirika grinned.

"What's that!?" Kyoko said in an angry tone. Suddenly Oriko walked towards Kyoko and bowed slightly at her.

"I hope you can forgive her," Oriko said.

"Oriko, you don't need to apologize to her," Kirika said.

"She's our friend so that's why we need to respect each other," Oriko replied.

"Well then, if you say so," Kirika said.

"Man, why am I always stuck with you all?" Kyoko muttered while scratching the back of her head. "Moreover, since when did I agree that I'm your friend?"

"Less talk, more action," Reimu said. "We shouldn't waste anymore time dwindling around here since miss Sayaka isn't here."

They immediately split amongst themselves into three groups. Group one consisted of Patchouli, Fate, Arf and Signum. While group two consisted of Reimu, Marisa, Vita, Hayate, Shamal, Oriko, Kirika and Kyoko. Group three consisted of Alice, Mami, Homura, Nanoha and Zafira. Before they started their search, Fate commanded her Bardiche to perform search.

"Bardiche, use the witch and soul gem's data to perform a wide area search," Fate commanded.

[_Yes Sir. Wide area search_] Bardiche responded. In just a few seconds, Bardiche blinked three times before it spoke again. [_Sir, there are about fifteen area that have similar frequency as the data. The closest one is about 700 metre and 900 metre._]

"Thank you, Bardiche."

[_Yes Sir._]

"We'll take the nearest one," Marisa excitedly volunteered for her group.

"We're not going to have a picnic you know," Vita said.

"I know," Marisa said in a grumpy tone. "It's not that I'm excited to beat someone up. I'm trying to loosen up the tension we're having."

"We'll be on our way to Madoka's house," Homura said.

"I'll contact you all if we found Sayaka," Signum said.

"Alright," Hayate nodded.

"Hope we can get this done tonight," Alice said. All of them nodded once before they immediately split up and went towards their own destination.

...

"Miss Yukari, aren't you going to help them?" Lindy asked while she kept her eyes on the Arthra's main computer screen that showed a view of Mitakihara City with Amy. Yukari, Ran, Yuyuko and Youmu were also present at the main command room since Lindy asked them to meet her there. Satori had already left for Gensokyo since she had already finished her job at interrogating Homura and Kyuubey. Nitori was in her room working on her equipment while waiting for her helicam to finish recording.

"There's no reason for me to participate in their battle," Yukari smiled.

"But they're your friends right?"

"I'm merely play a role as their spectator and guide."

"That's right," Yuyuko said. "We all believe that all of them are capable in solving the problem they're facing."

"You sure do have a lot of confidence in all of them," Amy said.

"Reimu and the others are strong, so there's no need to worry about them," Ran said.

"So is miss Nanoha and her friends," Youmu said. "I can see their strength comes from their strong bond as they depend on each other."

"Yup, you're right," Amy said. "You perception towards them sure is sharp."

"Thank you for your compliment," Youmu said with a small smile. "A good swordswoman must have sharp senses as well as perception to analyze every battle that she will face. Its important so that you know your foe well."

"I see."

"Everyone, you all need to take a look at this," All of them suddenly heard Nitori's voice as she rushed into the Arthra's main command room and immediately connected her personal computer to the Arthra's main computer. "My helicam just recorded Madoka made a contract with Kyuubey."

All of them watched the five minutes long video showing Madoka walking towards a park up until she disappeared into the thin air. Lindy and the rest of the Arthra's crew members took a full attention towards the magic circle that appeared below Madoka twice.

"How did miss Madoka obtained Mid-Childan magic system!?" Amy said in a surprised tone.

"Did anyone gave her any magic device?" Lindy asked.

"No, which is why its impossible for her to be able to use it," Amy replied. "I even doubt that Kyuubey was the one who gave it to her because she just killed him twice."

"Miss Nitori, could you zoom in the video and focus it on what miss Madoka had touched after she cleared up the flowers?" Lindy asked. "I noticed her hand was touching something there before the first magic circle appeared."

"Okay," Nitori answered as she tried to zoom in the video that she recorded. But the video became blurred and made them hardly saw the item that Madoka touched. "That's as far as I could go."

"Wait, I'll handle this," Amy said while curving a large smile. Her fingers tapped every keyboard's keys in front of her before the video started to sharpen up. The moment Lindy saw the item on Madoka's hand, she immediately stood up from her seat.

"Amy, contact Nanoha and the others to find miss Madoka as fast as they could," Lindy instructed in a serious tone. "I also need Chrono to meet me here."

"Roger," Amy also replied in a serious tone before she started working on what Lindy had just assigned her.

"So something new had happened," Yukari said.

"Yes," Lindy answered. "We need to find and bring miss Madoka here before more bad things happen."

"What about miss Sayaka?" Ran asked while looking at Nitori.

"I've located her," Nitori replied as she showed a video of Sayaka. "But the problem is that she's not heading towards the train station. She went somewhere else."

"That'll be a problem," Lindy said. "We need to inform them fast."

"Mistress Yuyuko," Youmu called as she tugged Yuyuko's sleeve before she whispered something into Yuyuko's ear. Yuyuko listened to what Youmu with a nod before she curved a smile.

"Yukari, can we have a moment?" Yuyuko asked.

"Alright," Yukari nodded with a smile. She could see that Yuyuko had something she had in mind that she wanted to share with her. Yukari turned around and looked at Lindy. "We'll be discussing something for a while."

"Alright," Lindy said. Yukari and her companion then immediately left the Arthra's main command room. Lindy only watched them in silence while wondering about what they were going to dicuss about. She hoped that Yukari and the rest would gave some support to help them dealing with the problems that she felt were getting worst.

"Admiral, we couldn't get in touch with Nanoha and the others," One of the operators said.

"What!?" Lindy said in a surprised yet serious tone.

...

"Arghh, we're not getting anywhere," Reimu said in an annoyed tone. "Where the heck is she? She's really a pain."

"Relax Reimu. It's not like we won't be able to find her," Marisa said with a grin.

"We've already been to four locations and couldn't find her," Reimu said. "Now we're going to the fifth one and I wouldn't put up my hope that she'll be there at all."

"But at least we got some precise locations, though all we've found so far was a magical girl and several witches," Hayate said while looking around as they flew towards their next destination while Oriko, Kirika and Kyoko followed them from behind, jumping from one building to another.

"How far is the next location?" Kyoko asked.

"Just about 900 metre ahead of us," Vita said. As they were heading towards the said location, Marisa suddenly stopped and looked at a sign board that had just caught her attention. The sign board was pinned onto a building's rooftop and the size of the board was big that Marisa could clearly saw what was written on it.

"I think you all should see this," Marisa said.

"Marisa, we've got no time to stop and look at a sign board," Reimu said.

"But this isn't just a normal sign board," Marisa said as she grabbed the board and showed it to Reimu and the others while pointing her finger at a direction where the board had pointed. All of them looked at the words on the board.

{{Sayaka's right there}}

"Is this some kind of prank?" Reimu asked while raising her eyebrow. "Who the heck put this board? How did someone know we're searching for miss Sayaka?"

"Graf Eisen, is there anything at that direction?" Vita asked while pointing her magic device towards the direction. Graf Eisen took a few seconds to scan the area before it responded to Vita.

[_There is a medium level magic source about 1.7 kilometre from here_]

"What!? That's quite far from the one that we're heading to right now!" Kirika grunted. "I'm getting tired."

"Kirika, just hang on for a little more," Oriko said while patting Kirika's head. "If we manage to finish this matter quickly, I'll treat you some cake."

"Alriiiight! Oriko's gonna treat me some cake!" Kirika immediately shouted happily in a childish tone. Reimu sighed while staring at Kirika's behaviour without saying anything. While Hayate smiled as she saw Kirika's happy face, thinking that it was a good thing to see despite the tension situation.

"Shall we go there?" Shamal asked.

"I think there's nothing wrong in trying to follow the sign board," Marisa said.

"I agree," Hayate said. "It's worth believing at the sign board."

"Don't you all think that the sign board is a trap set up by Kyuubey?" Kyoko asked. "Who knows that he did that to prevent us from finding Sayaka. Moreover, we haven't see him lingering around us."

"Kyuubey wouldn't be able to write like this since he only got his little paws," Marisa joked and let out a small laugh.

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Reimu said.

"I'm worry that he's with Madoka right now, trying to force her to make a contact," Oriko said.

"I hope that miss Madoka wouldn't make a contract with him," Hayate said.

"I can see another similar sign board right over there," Shamal said while pointing her finger at the sign board she just saw not far away from the first one. All of them immediately went towards the board and read whatever was written on it.

{{You'll treat me some dango if I'm correct. P.S. Something had happened to Madoka. Its best for you to find her as soon as possible.}}

Reimu and Marisa looked at each other before they let out a big sigh. The rest curiously looked at them both, wondering for the reason that made the two of them sighed at the same time the moment they saw the writing on the board.

"Reimu, what's wrong?" Shamal asked.

"The moment I saw the word 'dango', I immediately know that this is Yuyuko's work," Reimu said.

"Yup, its her alright," Marisa said. "How did she know where we are right now?"

"I bet Yukari's with her," Reimu said as she turned and faced towards the direction that they were going to head to. "Since they're the one who's guiding us, I now believe that Sayaka is in that direction."

"Man, I wish they would lend us a hand and help us," Marisa said.

"You know that its not their way to help us directly," Reimu said.

"But more importantly, I'm worry about miss Madoka," Oriko said. "What does miss Yuyuko mean by something?"

"It may be related to Kyuubey," Hayate replied.

"I'll contact the rest and tell them our current location and the situation about miss Madoka," Shamal said before she closed her eyes. But it did not even took her few seconds as her eyes snapped back open and looked at Reimu and the others with a concerned face.

"What's wrong?" Hayate asked.

"I can't communicate with them," Shamal replied.

"Let me try," Vita said as she focused her mind. But it also did not took her even a minute before she spoke, "It's no good. It seems someone is jamming our telephatic communication ability."

"Who on earth would do that?" Reimu asked.

"Who knows," Vita answered before she turned around. "I'll try to look for them and bring them here."

"Alright, be careful," Hayate said. Vita only nodded with a smile before she flew as fast as she could, leaving them behind.

"I've got a feeling that we might see something bad," Kirika said with a smile.

"Why do you have to say something like that?" Marisa muttered while scratching her head.

"Let's go then," Kyoko said as she started to dash, followed by Reimu and the others. It did not took them even five minutes to reach the location before they stopped in front of a tall apartment. Kyoko immediately knew the apartment the moment she saw it. "Hey, this is where Sayaka live."

"How did you know that?" Shamal asked.

"That's because I've stalked her before when I was trying to provoke a fight with her," Kyoko replied.

"Now you've starting to care for her," Marisa grinned.

"Don't be dumb," Kyoko rebuked. "She still have the chance to live her life with someone precious to her. I don't want her to live miserably because it reminded me of something that I don't want to remember anymore nor want her to experience it."

"There's no time to lose so we must go now," Oriko said. All of them nodded and immediately entered the apartment's building.

...

Sayaka sat on her bed with her blanket covering her entire body from head to toe. Her weak eyes gazed at her soul gem that had already been consumed by the taint and slowly made a small cracking sound. She felt she regret everything that she had done to gain attention from Kyosuke was left being unappreciated. She felt that she was stupid that she thought by being a magical girl, she could bring hope to him and could be with him forever.

As her mind was still filled with negative thoughts the window at her room suddenly broke and made a loud noise, making her jolted in surprise. She quickly uncovered her head to look at what had crashed into the window and saw Reimu and the others stood in the middle of her room. Sayaka immediately glared at them without moving from her bed.

"Who give you all the permission to enter my room?" Sayaka asked. "You even crashed through the window!"

"It's not that we want to enter through there," Kyoko replied while pointing her thumb at the broken window. "We've pressed your apartment's door bell but you didn't even bother to open the door."

"Just as Kyoko said, we don't have any choice," Oriko said before she took out a grief seed. "We need to cleanse your soul gem, whether you like it or not."

"It's too late," Sayaka said as she showed her soul gem to Reimu and the others. All of them could hear small cracking sound coming out from the soul gem. "It'll be just a matter of time before I'll be turned into a witch."

"Wah! That's quite a nasty taint on your soul gem," Marisa said.

"Quick Oriko, use the grief seed!" Reimu said. But the moment Oriko tried to dash forward, Sayaka was surrounded by a sudden whirlwind, almost throwing Oriko backward. Reimu gritted her teeth as she did not like the scene that she saw at the moment.

"What's going on?" Hayate asked.

"It's coming!" Kirika shouted. "She'll be turning into a witch!"

"Darn it! We're too late!" Kyoko said in a angered tone.

"Shamal!" Hayate said as she looked at Shamal. Shamal only nodded without saying anything and changed her ring into a Pandelform before she cast Mirror of Travels and immediately thrust her hand into it. The rest only looked at Shamal before they heard Sayaka's scream.

"Argghhh! Uugghh!" Sayaka let out a painful cry. Reimu and the others could see Shamal's hand were in front of Sayaka's soul gem.

"What're you doing to her!?" Kyoko asked.

"We'll explain later," Shamal replied. "We'll have to bet on smallest chance we've got right now. But even so... the resistance is too strong."

"Can you do it?" Oriko asked.

"I'll try to manage it," Shamal answered before she immediately summoned a spell. "Klarwind! Petals of Liberation!"

[_Petals of Liberation._]

A small vortex and several green petals were created around Sayaka's soul gem before the soul gem glowed and shattered into countless light particles. The particles then slowly disappeared without a trace. Shamal made a concerned face as she could see the black taint had reappeared and started to form into something similar to a grief seed while the whirlwind was getting stronger by minute.

"It seems I failed," Shamal shouted while trying to resist the strong whirlwind.

"I guess there's no choice," Reimu said as she looked at Marisa and the others. "Prepare to fight with Sayaka!"

"Sayaka!" Kyoko shouted, calling Sayaka's name. But her effort was futile as their surrounding started to fade away and changed into a stage filled with various musical instruments and some silhouttes that looked like some musician played the instruments that they were holding. All of them could feel the music that was being played was filled with anger, desperate, sadness, depression, envy and resentment. Kyoko gritted her teeth as she saw a witch that took a form of a mermaid covered with an armor on its upper body slowly appeared in front of them; Octavio von Seckendorff. The strong wind threw Sayaka's body into the air and was caught by Shamal who was near the body at that time.

"Haa~ all our effort in trying to save her goes to waste," Kirika said with a sigh.

"I guess... there's no choice but to defeat it," Hayate said in a sad tone as she looked at Sayaka's witch form before she muttered. "I'm sorry, miss Sayaka."

"There's should be a way to save her," Kyoko said.

"I'm afraid there's isn't anymore," Shamal said as she put her clenched hands in front of her chest. "I let my chance to save her slipped away. I'm sorry."

"At least you've tried," Reimu said.

"I don't want to do this, but I guess we don't have any choice," Marisa said.

"Well, it's better for us to put her to rest rather than let her loose," Kirika said.

"Darn it!" Kyoko cursed before she looked at Octavia. "Sayaka! Do you hear me!? Are you going to let yourself end your life with a miserable fate!? Sayaka!"

However Octavia did not responded to Kyoko other than summoning several wooden wheel and threw it towards her and the others. All of them immediately evaded every attack the witch threw at them, but the wheel was like a homing bullet that always followed them no matter where they went.

Reimu and Marisa kept dodging the wheel as they were trying to observe every attack that Octavia could launch. Hayate also only shot down the wheel and tried to see the situation they were in, but the wheel was so tough that normal projectiles only inflicted moderate damage to it. Shamal kept her distance while trying to cast steel yoke, but the dozens of the homing wheels made her cast a shield instead to defend herself and Sayaka's body that she still held on with her left arm.

Kirika and Kyoko were having a hard time defending and evading the wheel since they did not have the ability to fly around. Kirika had yet find a chance to attack Octavia since the wheels kept her distance and made it difficult for her to approach it. While Kyoko was still hesitated on whether she should attack Octavia or not.

"Star Diamond Reflection!" Five small star emerged before it developed and emerged into a large sized star as Oriko casted her shield while trying to find an opening for her to shoot her projectiles. "Kirika! Kyoko! Please get behind the shield!"

The shield managed to protect Oriko, Kirika and Kyoko from the wheels that headed towards them. But the wheels then circled around and attacked them from behind since Oriko did not put any shield to cover their back.

"So much for your shield," Kyoko said as she swung her spear to hit the wheels. "Man, these wheels sure are stubborn."

"Wait, I'll handle this," Oriko said as she held up her left hand that was holding a card. "Spell card! Stardust Planetarium Tank Build!"

The large star shield in front of Oriko suddenly shattered into a dust before it circled around the three of them and formed into a planetarium. Kyoko saw the wheels continuously hit the planetarium shield and trying to break through but was proved futile.

"That's better," Kyoko muttered before she looked at Oriko. "New magic skills, huh?"

"Yeah. Though I can't use offence magic at this rate yet," Oriko replied.

"Hey, are you three all right?" Marisa asked as she flew and stopped near Oriko and the others.

"We're fine," Oriko replied. Suddenly she saw several wheels headed towards Marisa from every direction, which made an escape seemed impossible. "Marisa, watch out!"

"Huh? You mean all these wheel?" Marisa asked as she grazed between the wheels. Kyoko was the only person who was amazed by Marisa's performance since that was the first time she watched her in a close range.

"How did you managed to dodge like that!?" Kyoko asked.

"This is nothing compared to spell card battle, kid," Marisa replied in a cheerful tone. Kyoko immediately glared at Marisa the moment she was called a kid. At the same time she was wondering about the spell card battle that Marisa just mentioned.

"Marisa, we'll be fine by ourselves for now," Oriko said. "The three of us need to plan something first."

"Okay then," Marisa grinned before she turned around and flew towards Octavia.

"I'll try to put down my shield and shoot some projectiles towards Sayaka. You two should find any opening where you can rush towards her and attack," Oriko immediately looked at Kirika and Kyoko.

"Okay," Kirika said. Kyoko only kept silent while hastily gave a small nod. The moment Oriko put down her shield, both Kirika and Kyoko leaped towards the air and gained some distance from Octavia.

"Spell card! Celestial Crystals! Shoot!" Oriko pulled out her spell card out from her sleeve and created dozens colourful crystals along with her basic sphere projectiles before she shot it towards Octavia. But the projectiles did not managed to hit Octavia since the wheels had gathered and blocked Oriko's attack.

"I got you!" Kirika smirked as she managed to pass through barrage of wheels and jumped high towards Octavia before she swung her weapon. Octavia saw her and used its sword to block Kirika's attack. Kirika quickly jumped backward barrage of wheels appeared and tried hit Kirika. "Whoah! She's quite strong and responded quickly to my attack."

"Stardust Reverie!" Marisa shouted as she pulled out a spell card, creating dozens of star-shaped projectiles with various size. But Marisa's attack also proved futile since Octavia managed to block her attack with dozens of wheels that kept appearing when some of it being destroyed by the star. Marisa only shrugged her shoulders as she tried to make a funny remark. "Well, it's not that I expect my spell card will kill Sayaka in an instant. Otherwise, I'll be the heroine this time."

"We don't have time for your silly jokes," Reimu said with a sigh. "You just don't want to finish her off. That's why you hesitate to use stronger spell card."

"W-well that's true. No one want to kill someone they know," Marisa said.

"Fine then, I'll do it. That's the least thing I can do for her," Reimu said. But before she managed to pull out her spell card, she could hear Kyoko's voice.

"Sayaka! I know you're there!" Kyoko tried one more time to shout out to Octavia, hoping that Sayaka's consciousness still existed despite being a witch. "Don't you want to live a better life? Is this how you want your life to end? To be killed by us?"

"Kyoko..." Hayate muttered as she could feel that Kyoko became more desparate to save Sayaka although neither of them know whether she could be saved or not.

"Kyoko, we couldn't save her anymore. I'm sorry," Shamal tried to comfort Kyoko.

"Shut up!" Kyoko shouted. "We shouldn't give up just yet. She had just became a witch. I'm sure she can hear us right now. Sayaka! Respond to us! Sayaka!"

"Shut up will ya! You're too loud! I'm not deaf you know!" Suddenly all of them could hear Sayaka's voice yelling in an angry tone.

"Am I hearing things?" Reimu asked.

"No," Hayate replied. "I'm sure I also heard miss Sayaka's voice just now."

"Miss Sayaka, can you hear me?" Oriko shouted as she looked at Octavia.

"Like I said, I'm not deaf! So you don't have to shout!" Sayaka replied. "Ouch, my head hurts."

"Everyone, that witch is not Sayaka," Shamal suddenly said.

"If she's not the witch, then wh-" Kyoko tried to ask as she turned to look at Shamal. But she immediately stopped as her eyes widened the moment she saw Sayaka's body that she thought that it had already became a corpse was in a sitting position on the floor while rubbing her head. Reimu and the others also looked surprised as they could not believed that Sayaka was alive. Kyoko dashed towards Sayaka and quickly pinched her cheek.

"Ouch! What's that for!?" Sayaka asked in an angry tone. Kyoko only smirked before she got up and turned around, facing Octavia.

"Heh, so much for emotional and dramatic situations we're having earlier," Kyoko said.

"What do you mean by that?" Sayaka asked in an unsatisfied tone.

"We thought you've already became a witch there," Oriko replied the moment she landed near Sayaka while pointed her finger at Octavia.

"T-that's me?" Sayaka asked in a surprised tone before she remembered her witch form from the video that she watched. "But how come I'm alive?"

"It seems my effort was a success. I thought that I failed in saving you," Shamal said happily.

"Effort? Saving me?"

"We'll tell you later," Marisa said. "Now that we know you're okay, I guess we can defeat that witch without regret."

"Steel yoke!" Shamal put down her shield and casted several steel yoke to restrict the Octavia's movement before she flew near Hayate. But it did not prevent it from conjuring it's wheel projectiles. "I don't think steel yoke is good enough to prevent the witch from attacking us."

"We need to defeat this witch quick," Kyoko said as she swung her spear.

A thunder suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck Octavia, creating a loud thunderclap. Reimu and the others were surprised by it and immediately went on guard. But the thunder only focused on Octavia and not on them. Marisa noticed that Octavia did not make any movement after the thunder disappeared. All of them noticed a large sized cube appeared out of nowhere and flew towards Octavia before circled around it as it glowed with intense light.

"So... what just happened?" Marisa asked.

"Someone must've attack Sayaka's witch," Reimu said. She then turned towards Hayate and asked, "Did you do it?"

"No, I don't have any lightning based magic," Hayate replied.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Kyoko said. "At least we can kill it fast."

"Can you stand up?" Oriko asked with a smile as she extended her hand to pull Sayaka on her feet. Sayaka nodded and slowly tried to reach for Oriko's hand, but she did not managed to hold her hand as Oriko suddenly pulled her hand to her chest and let out a painful cry. "Ugh! Arghh! W-what is this!? Ugh!"

All of them looked at Oriko and were surprised to see a hand penetrated her body and was grabbing her soul gem. Hayate quickly looked at Shamal as she thought that hand was belonged to her. But she immediately dropped her assumption as she saw Shamal did not use her magic.

"Oriko!" Kirika shouted before her hands reached and tried to release Oriko's soul gem from the hand. But the hand was too strong for her to handle.

"Kirika... don't... do... it... stop..." Oriko tried to warn Kirika.

"What're you saying? I'm trying to relase your soul gem from this stupid hand. I swear that if I find the owner of this hand, I'll..." Kirika did not managed to finish her speech as a ribbon suddenly formed near the hand and wrapped around Kirika's soul gem, making her let out a painful cry just like Oriko.

"Miss Oriko! Kirika!" Sayaka shouted. As much as she wanted to help them, she could not find her soul gem nor her ring anywhere around her. She clenched her hands as she was only able to watched everything that happened right in front of her eyes. Reimu and Marisa quickly looked around to see anything or anyone suspicious.

"Shamal, can you locate the person who casted the magic at them? Hayate asked.

"I'll try," Shamal replied. But she did not managed to cast her magic as all of them suddenly heard a familiar voice, echoing all over the area.

"He he he, I'm lucky to find three more magical girls at one place after I've met two earlier," The voice said while letting out a small sadistic laugh. They could see a figure slowly approached them before it stopped.

"Ma... doka?" Sayaka slowly uttered Madoka's name. "Madoka, is that you? Are you the one who did this to Miss Oriko and Kirika? Are you the one who stop that witch?"

Sayaka and eveyone else clearly recognized the figure was Madoka despite she wore a magical girl outfit almost similar to Nanoha and her friends. One large cubes that was similar the to the one that was circling Octavia was hovering beside Madoka. Hayate and Shamal noticed Madoka had Mid-childan magic circle formed below her as she stood still. Madoka's left arm looked like it was gone but upon close inspection, eveyone could see small magic circle formed under her sleeve. That was why Sayaka assumed that it was Madoka's hand that appeared in front of Oriko's chest.

"So what if I am?" Madoka asked back. "You wanted me to become a magical girl to save you and change you back into a normal girl. Well, here I am. But since you've already been saved, so I guess I'll save them from the fate of being magical girls."

"What do you mean?"

"I simply pulled their soul back into their body," Madoka answered.

"What about the witch? What did you do to it?" Marisa asked as she turned to look at Madoka.

"I only paralyzed it so it won't disturb us," Madoka said.

"Great, now we can kill it. Master Spark!" Marisa said as she pointed her mini Hakkero towards Octavia. Large magic circle formed in front of the mini Hakkero before it released a high concentration of rainbow coloured beam. But before the beam managed to hit Octavia, the cube stopped in front of the beam and absorbed it. Marisa turned her head and stared at Madoka with a confused expression. "Hey, why did you stop my spark?"

"Uh uh uh, nobody can steal my prey," Madoka smirked as she replied.

"So why didn't you finish it already?"

"I can finish it later."

"Miss Madoka, how did you obtain Mid-Childan magic system? Did Admiral Lindy gave it to you?" Hayate asked.

"Don't be stupid. I've obtained my magic on my own," Madoka replied while narrowing her eyes.

"Madoka..." Sayaka muttered. She tried to say something but she was in a loss for word after seeing Madoka's personality changed drastically. Sayaka could not believe that Madoka used a harsh word since she knew Madoka since childhood and she clearly remembered that she did not heard Madoka used such word even once. Even Reimu and the others seemed to have noticed Madoka's behaviour.

"Miss Madoka, I think that you should put back their soul into their body without delay," Reimu ordered.

"Oh, and why is that?" Madoka asked like an innocent child who was curious.

"You're hurting them, that's why," Marisa replied instead of Reimu.

"Yes, just like Marisa said," Reimu said. "Its not good to make them suffer like that. You should get it done right now."

"That's what I want from them though," Madoka smirked. Reimu narrowed her eyes as she stared at Madoka.

"That's what you want?" Shamal asked.

"Yup, I want them see them suffer for a bit," Madoka replied.

"Ughhh!" Oriko and Kirika let out the painful cry as their soul gem shattered into pieces before it slowly being absorbed into their body.

"Ah~ you two sure let out a lovely cry," Madoka said as she licked her lips. Madoka immediately pulled back her hand that was penetrating Oriko's body, leaving the three of them lying on the floor, gasping for air. "I was hoping that both of you could endure for a little bit longer so that I can see your painful face, he he."

"Marisa and Hayate, I'm going to knock Madoka to her senses," Reimu said as she finally became impatient and immediately declared her spell card. "Yin-yang scattering!"

Four yin-yang orbs formed around Reimu before she shot it towards Madoka. Madoka only stared at the incoming orbs before it collided with her, creating a loud explosion and heavy smoke.

"Aren't you being too rough on her?" Marisa asked. Her curiousity was answered as she saw Madoka was still standing with a sinister smile on her face after the smoke cleared up. Reimu was a little bit surprised to see that her attack seemed did not touched Madoka's body at all.

"Surprised?" Madoka asked. "You sure are arrogant to think that you could hurt me with your magic."

"Tsk," Reimu clicked her tongue as she started to get annoyed with Madoka's attitude. She assumed that Madoka was protected by something before she threw several talismans that changed into projectiles. Her assumption became true the moment she saw that her talismans was deflected by a magic circle.

"Be careful," Shamal said. "She's using a shield to protect herself."

"So much for your shield. You let your back unprotected," Kyoko said as she managed to get bahind Madoka. "You need to sleep for a while."

Kyoko immediately swung her spear towards the back of Madoka's neck. But she did not managed to land a hit as one of Madoka's cube hit hard on Kyoko's stomach and threw her far away. Madoka turned around to look at Kyoko with a grin.

"That's what you'll get for being a bad girl, Kyoko," Madoka said.

"Madoka, stop it. I don't like the way you're behaving right now. Please stop it right now," Sayaka pleaded. She could hear her own voice shaken, partly because of the evil aura that she could feel radiated from Madoka. But she had to gather her strength to speak.

"I didn't come all the way here just to hear you nag," Madoka rebuked with sigh. "You're really just a low life pest."

"That's enough!" Kyoko dashed towards Madoka, trying to land a hit on Madoka's face. "You shouldn't talk to your friend like that!"

"I was hoping that you'll back down from this matter for a bit until I manage to release you from your fate as a magical girl," Madoka said with a sigh as she concentrated her magic on her hand.

Madoka released a murderous aura that could be felt by everyone before she thrust her hand towards Kyoko's body. Kyoko widened her eyes the moment some blood splattered onto her face. Her body shook as she saw Madoka's hand was penetrating a body that suddenly appeared in between the two of them. Everything had happened so fast that neither Reimu, Marisa, Hayate nor Shamal could take any actions.

"O... ri... ko...?" Kyoko's uttered Oriko's name. She could see Oriko was holding her spell card, which she assumed that Oriko was trying to summon the card's magic. Oriko only glanced at Kyoko with her weak eyes since she could not respond to her nor said anything. She then coughed some blood as Madoka pulled back her hand before she collapsed onto the floor. Kyoko immediately sat down and touched Oriko's wound while hugging her firmly as she watched Oriko breathing heavily. "Hey! Open your eyes! Hey! Darn it!"

"Such a beautiful fate that you put upon yourself," Madoka said as she licked Oriko's blood on her hand.

"Darn you! How dare you hurt Oriko like that!" Kirika tried to regain her composure and made an effort to dash towards Madoka. But she grabbed and tugged by Marisa from behind. "Let me go!"

"Do you want to get yourself killed?" Marisa tried to calm Kirika down. But Kirika's mind had already filled by rage and hatred towards Madoka that she could not think rationally anymore.

"Shamal, heal Oriko quick and protect her as well as Kyoko, Kirika and Sayaka from miss Madoka!" Hayate said.

"Alright," Shamal responded before her Klarwind shone as she casted a barrier shield around Oriko, Kirika, Kyoko and Sayaka. Then she immediately casted her healing spell to heal Oriko's wound. "Tranquil breeze, carry forth a blessing of healing."

[_Yes_] Klarwind responded to Shamal's cast. Kyoko, Kirika and Sayaka could see Oriko's body glowed with light before her wound slowly closed up.

"Oh, her wound have already been healed," Madoka said as she slowly walked towards Kyoko and the others who were inside the shield. "It doesn't matter then. Come to me, Kyoko. I'll release you from your cruel fate."

"In your dream!" Kyoko shouted. As much as she wanted to stand up and fight, she could not deny that the murderous aura that she felt radiated from Madoka was so strong that she suddenly did not have enough courage to face her. Her could feel her instinct was telling her to retreat for now before anything bad happens.

"Keep away from them! Spirit Sign: Fantasy Orb!" Reimu shouted as she declared another spell card. Several colourful orbs formed around Reimu and shot towards Madoka. Madoka only smirked as she rose her hand and put up a circle shield.

"It won't wor-" Madoka could not finished speaking as Reimu's spell card managed to break through her shield and hit hard on her stomach. Madoka's smile became larger before she let out a loud laugh. "Ha ha ha! You're good! I didn't expect my shield would be destroyed by your magic! I'll return the favor then. Shining Needle!"

Reimu immediately went on guard as she looked at Madoka, but she did not saw any incoming projectiles. Hayate tried to put a barrier around Reimu as fast as she could but she was too late. Reimu's arms and back suddenly was struck with several medium sized needles that instantly disappeared after hit. Bloods slowly flowed out from the wound while she could feel her arms were getting numb every second that she could barely move it. But some of the needle did not managed to hit Reimu since the barrier had deflected it, so she survived from any fatal wounds.

"Reimu!" Hayate shouted. She then casted another barrier around Marisa as she feared that Madoka would also target her. Shamal did not waste anymore time and immediately casted a healing spell to heal Reimu's wound.

"Where did-?" Reimu tried to ask despite she was trying to endure the pain from her wounds.

"My needles can strike at a fast speed," Madoka said. "That's why I named it 'shining needle'."

"Hey Reimu, are you okay?" Marisa asked in a concerned tone. She was hoping that she could help Reimu but she was inside a barrier at that moment, which restricted her movement.

"Should you be asking that question?" Reimu asked back in an annoying tone.

"I thought that you could entertain me," Madoka said with a sigh. "You're lucky that girl put a barrier around all of you just in time. Otherwise I could've manage to kill you."

"Madoka! Why are you behaving like this? Please stop!" Sayaka pleaded once again. Her eyes were filled with tears that kept flowing as she looked at Madoka. She could not stand to see Madoka hurting other people to the extent of injuring Reimu and Oriko.

"Oh, stop it Sayaka," Madoka said with a grin. "It's not like you to beg like that. Aren't you the knight of justice?"

"No, I'm not!" Sayaka shouted as she clenched her hands. "I failed in everything! I'm not the knight of justice!"

"It's a good thing you realized that you're just a failure, he he he," Madoka let out a sinister laugh. Sayaka looked down while covering her mouth as she let out a sob. Kyoko looked at Sayaka before she turned to look at Madoka with anger. As much as she want to knock Madoka down, she knew that she did not have enough magic strength to do so.

"Bloody Dagger!" Hayate summoned several red crystals and shot it towards Madoka. Madoka put up a shield in front of her but several crystals managed to surround Madoka and hit her from behind. "I'm sorry miss Madoka, but I have to arrest you for your assassination attempt."

"Arrest me!? Bwahahaha! You're too naive, brat!" Madoka let out a loud laugh as she pointed her finger towards Hayate. Suddenly Madoka stopped laughing and looked up into the empty space above her. "It's time for me to leave. I don't have time to waste anymore. I found it and its calling me."

All of them suddenly saw two dark blue wings formed at Madoka's back and they noticed a small gem appeared on her forehead. Both Hayate and Shamal made a serious expression as they looked at Madoka who only grinned at them. They immediately knew the gem the moment the saw it since they had read most of previous lost logia's case files that had occured.

"Jewel Seed..." Hayate muttered before she asked Madoka. "Where did you obtained that Jewel Seed?"

"Oh, you mean these?" Madoka asked back.

"These?"

"Yup, these," Madoka said as one more Jewel Seed appeared and circling around her. "Like I said earlier, I obtained these myself. Or you could say that I was choosen to be its owner. It'll help me to fulfill my wish and desire."

"Miss Madoka, you're wrong. Using the Jewel Seeds will put your life in danger," Shamal said.

"Oh my, you're quite jealous of my magical abilities," Madoka smirked as a magic circle formed below her. "I hope that you wouldn't hinder me from completing my wish and desire if you value your life."

Madoka immediately vanished from their sight before her magic circle dies out. Marisa let out a big sigh as she did not expect everything that had happened right in front of her eyes. Reimu clearly made an annoyed face as she was unhappy to see the situation they were in earlier. Hayate and Shamal flew towards Kirika who had already sat beside Oriko and rested Oriko's head on her lap. They could also see Sayaka was covering her face, trying to hide her face as she continued to let out a few small sobs. Kyoko only gritted her teeth because she was frustrated on how helpless she had became.

"H-hey, what's going on?" Marisa asked as she noticed the witch's barrier started to vanish. Then she saw Octavia had disappeared from the stage before they scenery around them changed back into Sayaka's room. "Wait, where's the witch?"

"It must've run away from us," Reimu replied hastily as she quickly looked at Oriko. "More importantly, we need to treat Oriko's wound. Hayate, how is she?"

"She's still breathing but she's unconscious," Hayate replied after she checked Oriko's condition. "How's your injury, Reimu?"

"My hands still feel numb and I can barely move it," Reimu replied.

"We need to save Oriko fast," Kirika said hastily. Hayate could see Kirika's tears finally started to flow across her cheeks.

"Don't worry, Kirika," Hayate tried to smile while putting her hand on Kirika's shoulder so that Kirika would rest assured and calmed down. "She's still alive, but she's unconscious due to loss of blood. We need to bring her to Arthra as fast as we could."

"Are you two all right?" Shamal asked as she approached Kyoko and Sayaka.

"Um, yeah," Sayaka replied while trying her best not to let out a sob and showed her face.

"Darn it," Kyoko smacked her fist onto the floor. "What's wrong with that girl!? Why did she acted like that!?"

"We'll explain it to you all later," Hayate said.

"Hayate, can you hear me?" Hayate suddenly could hear Fate's voice through telepathic communication.

"I can hear you," Hayate replied. "We're at seventh floor in an apartment. You should be able to see a broken window if you're near."

"I can see it. We'll be right there," Fate said. In just a minute Hayate could see Fate and her group approached them at a high speed before they stopped in front of the window.

"Hayate, we're sorry that we're late," Vita said. "The communication jamming was too strong and we couldn't locate you all."

"That's fine, but we need to bring Oriko and Reimu to the Arthra to treat their injury," Hayate said. Fate and the others were surprised to see Oriko and Reimu looked like they was badly injured.

"What happened?" Patchouli asked.

"Well..." Marisa tried to explain, but she was immediately interrupted by Kyoko.

"We've got no time for dwindling around nor to answer your question! Oriko needs immediate treatment!" Kyoko rebuked in an anger tone. At the same time, she felt weird to call Oriko's name for the first time. But she ignored the feeling since she was more concerned about Oriko's condition.

"I agree," Sayaka said in a weak voice. "Miss Oriko is fighting for her life while you're asking about less important thing."

"I know, sheesh," Marisa said in an annoyed tone.

"We apologize for that," Fate said. "We'll be leaving now."

"Is everyone all right?" Hayate and the others now could hear Nanoha's voice through telepathic communication. "We couldn't contact you all earlier because someone's been jamming our communication earlier and we couldn't locate everyone at all ever since."

"Reimu and Oriko are injured. We need to take them to the Arthra for further treatment," Hayate replied straight to the point.

"It's miss Madoka, right?" Alice asked.

"Yes," Hayate answered while wondering how Alice knew about Madoka. "We'll tell you the details later. We'll be teleporting to the Arthra right now, so we can meet there later."

"Alright," Nanoha said.

"Arf, teleport us all to the Arthra," Fate requested.

"Okay," Arf replied before a large magic circle appeared below everyone. "Dimensional Transfer! Destination: Arthra."

* * *

**Side Story (.0)v: a few days ago**

"Alright Oriko, today I'm going to teach you about spell card," Marisa said in an excited tone.

"Wow, really? Wouldn't it be hard for me to use pure and authentic magic like you and miss Reimu did?" Oriko asked.

"It's not really that hard since you're a potentially magic user," Marisa replied with a grin. "Listen to this. A spell card battle is the most pointless game in the world that everyone can enjoy as equals, including crickets."

"C-crickets!?" Oriko seemed surprised the moment she heard that even an insect could use a spell card. In her thoughts, _Does a cricket in Gensokyo that intelligent and powerful to be able to use magic?_

"Yup, even a cricket can play a spell card game," Marisa replied.

"Ah, I see," Oriko said with a small laugh while her mind was still full of question about how does Gensokyo really look like. She shook her head lightly to ignore her thoughts and bowed slightly towards Marisa. "Then, I hope you can teach me a lot about it."

"Okay," Marisa replied happily. "Since I'm going to teach you about spell card, I'll be suggesting a lot of star sign magic then."

"If you say so, I'll be glad to follow your instruction," Oriko said with a smile.

"Alright, let's get started now," Marisa curved a big smile.

"Yes," Oriko said.

* * *

**Afterword:**

Hi there. Its been a while. Since I've already finished my exam, so I'll be having a semester break from now on. So I'll try hard to finish this fanfic as soon as I can (though I didn't expect that my fanfic is longer than 12 chapters).

As usual, I've tried hard to make things simple in this chapter. But the thing is that some details will be gone if I kept it short and some 'scene' will be incomplete. So this chapter got really long like the previous chapters. I hope that this chapter is clear as the sun that everyone can understand each scene that I've wrote.

Anyway, I'm sure some of the reader may disagree about the scene where Reimu got beaten up a little bit as she is one of the most OP characters. Well, I do agree with that. But in my humble opinion that while Reimu is strong, she also have a little bit weakness as a human. I do have a reason for stating as such.

The reason is that I've potrayed her based on official works such as 'Touhou Silent Sinner in Blue' and 'Touhou Forbidden Scrolley'. Since I've read those mangas countless times, I get a clear picture of her personality (although I've messed up her personality somewhere in chapter four) as well as other characters such as Marisa, Remilia, Sakuya and so on. I think those who had read the two mangas may know what I meant about what I had just stated. I didn't refer too much to their game side since I couldn't get a glimpse of their 'real' life in normal days.

Well, I do know that if Reimu used her abilities without spell card rules, she's likely to become the most powerful being (with all that ability to float and barrier techniques). But then again in canon mangas she did not show her abilities and her as well as others actual power level. So since its kind of vague to me about their power scale if its beyond the spell card rules (For example, how invincible is Reimu's ability to float in Chrono manage to dispel it with his magic? How strong is Remilia compare to Hayate and her ancient Belka's magic?), so I would like to keep them within the rule. After all, Touhou without spell card and its rules won't be Touhou. As for the reason for her power seemed weak in this chapter, I'll explain it later on. Note: Do read chapter 1-4 and chapter 18 &amp; 19 in Touhou Forbidden Scrolley... That's the part that showed a little bit Reimu's weaknesses as a human although she is a youkai exterminator. Also there's a scene in Silent Sinner in Blue which Reimu was surprised by Lunarian Rabbit's teleportation although she herself could do the same.

So, that's about it. Since Touhou's fans perceptions vary from one person to another due to some circumstances (e.g. vague information of Touhou cast's actual 'real' life or 'real' battle), I'm open to any critics afterwards. Though, my perception of Touhou universe is like in the fanfic that I've wrote. So I won't put up any debate or argument about it.

By the way, I still haven't finish watching Nanoha Strikers series (still stuck somewhere around episode 4). So I don't know if my storyline is similar or the same as in the series. If it is so, then it is a coincidence. As for how Madoka is able to fight like in this chapter, I would like to simply state that it is the Jewel Seed for the reason for it.

Also, I'm thinking of changing PMMM X Touhou into more general category. What do you think?


	15. Chapter 15

Hello there. How do you do?

I'm sorry that I've not been able to update the story as fast as I could. I was focusing too much on its other chapter that I forgot to post this one X'3... I've put my effort to avoid create too much fillers that aren't really important to the story... X'3

By the way, I want to thank SuperNova23 for correcting my mistake about Reimu. I knew it that I've read about that information (about Reimu being in the top 5 but not the strongest) several years ago... But since I've forgot to check it again. I've misinterpret that part. I apologize for that... As for Oriko's part, I'll be post a story about her which I didn't reveal in the earlier chapters some other day...

* * *

**Chapter 15: Complicated Hearts**

"Care to explain what's going on here!? How did Madoka obtained magic similar to yours!? And where's my soul gem!?" Sayaka impatiently asked.

Everyone were gathering at the Arthra's meeting room while waiting for Shamal to finish examine and treating Reimu and Oriko's wound, accompanied by Kirika who was clinging to Oriko ever since they arrived at the Arthra. Patchouli had already headed to the Infinity Library, leaving only Marisa and Alice to attend the important gathering.

Marisa and Alice glanced at everyone. While Nanoha and her friends were able to remain calm, Kyoko hardly kept her irritated face hidden as they were waiting for Chrono to explain everything. Sayaka did not show any reaction as her eyes continuously staring at Chrono, waiting for his answer. Mami who was sitting beside Alice managed to control her emotions despite the grief feeling that she had after everything that had happened. Homura who kept her head down clearly emmited strong anger towards someone, perhaps towards everyone.

"Everyone, please look here," Chrono said. Everyone looked at the direction where Chrono's hand pointed at and saw several floating screen appeared in the air. Most of it were showing images of Jewel Seeds, but one of the window showed a repeated video of Madoka at the park up until she disappeared into the thin air. "As you can see, Madoka possessed the Jewel Seed after she found it at a park in Mitakihara. Although we don't know what she is aftering at the moment, it is most likely she's attacking magical girls that possess the soul gem."

"What's this Jewel Seed that you're talking about!?" Sayaka asked.

"This is the Jewel Seed," Chrono replied as a window popped up on the screen, showing the seed. "It's one of the lost logia's item that contains tremendous powers. It can be dangerous since we don't know how powerful it can be."

"And as for your soul gem... Shamal had already liberated your soul from it, which means you're back to normal," Hayate explained.

"But how did the Jewel Seeds appeared at Mitakihara City if you had secure it?" Mami asked.

"Actually, we've never been able to secure all of it. Several of it were lost inside an imaginary when we're trying to retrieve it before," Nanoha replied instead of Chrono.

"So basically you mean that the seeds that miss Madoka obtained is among the Jewel Seeds that were lost in this imagninary space whatever-that-is?" Marisa asked although she did not know what the term meant.

"It's most likely that's the situation," Chrono replied. "I assume that the disturbance of time and space that caused the Jewel Seeds to appear."

"Did something like this happened before in the past timeline?" Alice asked.

"No," Fate answered. "It's appearance may likely to be linked to our intervention in this timeline."

"Oh, that means our presence made some changes in this particular timeline," Marisa said.

"Exactly," Chrono said.

"Is there any way we can save Madoka?" Mami asked.

"This is probably the first time a human completely changed it's personality by the Jewel Seeds. But I'm sure that miss Madoka will return to normal once we're able to retrieve the seed from her," Chrono replied.

"Then we have to find Madoka now," Sayaka said.

"Right now several of our mages are searching for her as well as other Jewel Seeds that are possibly exists around Mitakihara," Chrono said. "We'll let you know if we found her."

"But we should also search for her instead of waiting," Sayaka argued in an unsatisfied tone.

"Right now we want you to rest and recover your energy," Chrono said.

"But..." Sayaka tried to argue but Alice immediately interrupted her.

"Sayaka, it's best to listen to their advice," Alice said. Sayaka glanced at Alice for a moment before she shut her eyes and let out a small but heavy sigh while clenching her hands.

"Nanoha, how did you know that miss Madoka was causing us trouble earlier and that she posessed the Jewel Seeds?" Hayate asked.

"We met her at her house, standing still around polls of blood while activating her magic circle," Nanoha replied in an uncomfortable tone.

"Blood!? Whose blood is it!?" Marisa asked.

"We don't know. Admiral Lindy instructed us to leave the house after we put down the barrier," Zafira replied. "But we assumed that there was a fight happened just before we arrived there."

"It's all your fault..." Homura muttering as she stood up.

"Homura, did you say something?" Marisa tilted her head.

"It's all your fault that Madoka turned into something evil! If you all didn't appear and caused trouble in this timeline, then Madoka wouldn't possess your stupid magic!" Homura shouted.

"If we didn't intervere this time, who knows that what other problem will rise. Finding the time distortion culprit, that is yourself, is more than enough problem," Chrono argued in a calm tone.

"That's right. Living in a repeated time is already troublesome," Vita said. "Afterall, who knows another parallel world will collide and emerge with the current world that we live in."

"Just like Vita said. Combination between three parallel world had already created unexpected problems," Chrono said. "Imagine more parallel world will collide if you are to perform your time reversal magic once again."

"That's your own problem! My problem is none of your concern," Homura snapped.

"What a naive girl," All of them heard Remilia's voice before they turned to look at her along with Sakuya and Patchouli who were just entering the meeting room.

"So the petite and naive vampire herself decided to show up after disappearing, huh?" Alice mocked. Remilia immediately glared annoyingly at Alice the moment she heard the word petite, but she decided to ignore her.

"Well, I came here to see Reimu's face after being defeated by a amateur magic user. But it seems that her treatment still haven't finish," Remilia grinned before she looked at Homura. "More importantly. You're either very brave or stupid enough to say that what you've done is not of our business. You messed with the time and forced us to live in a repeated world."

"If your friends didn't show everything, you all wouldn't realize that you're all living in a repeated world," Homura argued.

"That's the problem," Remilia said as she floated towards Homura. Everyone except Marisa, Alice, Patchouli and Sakuya were surprised to see Remilia suddenly grabbed Homura's neck and lifted her up, hanging above the air. Homura gasped for air as she tried to stuggle free from Remilia's hand although it was proved futile. "If you didn't perform your time reverse, the witches wouldn't appeared at Gensokyo and everyone wouldn't ended up interfering with your problem. You're the one that worsen your own problem as well as ours."

"Then you should blame your friend. She's the one who let the witches into you place," Homura did not gave up to justify her argument.

"I believe that Yukari had her own reason to let those witches into Gensokyo although she didn't tell us. But I do plan to beat her up once I get back to Gensokyo," Remilia said.

"Hey Remilia, you shouldn't strangle her like that. She's just a young girl," Marisa rebuked.

"She needs some discipline so you shouldn't spoil her too much," Remilia slowly lowered Homura down and let go of her hand.

"That's quite a harsh way to discipline a little girl," Zafira said.

"That's one way to teach a mischievous yokai in Gensoyko," Remilia said.

"But your method is consider inappropriate in the outside world," Alice rebuked.

"Whatever," Remilia said.

"Are you okay?" Hayate asked while quickly moving her wheelchair towards Homura.

"Stay away from me!" Homura said as she slowly got up on her feet. Signum stopped her the moment she tried to leave the meeting room. "Out of my way!"

"You need to calm down. I cannot allow you to walk out of the room just like that. You'll easily get lost here," Signum adviced.

"Please calm down, Homura. Okay?" Hayate pleaded in a soft tone. Homura only glanced at Hayate before she walked towards her chair and sat down. She could see Hayate's sincerity and concern was genuine. Mami, Sayaka and Kyoko only watched Homura with full of question while wondering what made Homura's attitude changed drastically.

"Mi'lady, that..." Sakuya trailed off as she pointed her finger at images of the Jewel Seed.

"That item... Do you all know about that item?" Remilia asked in a serious tone.

"Yes, it's a Jewel Seed," Arf replied.

"Just as I thought," Remilia said. Everyone looked at her as she continued speaking. "I guess I was right about leaving Gensokyo to find the source of that item."

"Miss Remilia, did you mean that the jewel seeds also appeared at Gensokyo?" Chrono who asked.

"Yes, I'm sure that's the thing that my little sister found," Remilia replied.

"Unbelivable. Did miss Yukari also let it into Gensokyo?"

"Who knows. She's really one mysterious youkai who have a lot of mysterious agenda," Marisa said. Then she turned to look at Remilia. "What happened to Flandre?"

"There's nothing wrong with her. But I can feel strong will inside the jewel that Flan didn't want to give it to us," Remilia replied.

"You mean you just let her hold onto that thing?" Alice asked.

"Of course since I thought that thing is the same as the one that the witches dropped when we killed it. But it's more dangerous than the grief seed since Flan seemed to be attached to it and sometimes talking about leaving Gensokyo to find more of it."

"That's why Ive casted a sleeping spell at her to prevent her from escaping the mansion," Patchouli said.

"That's not a good news. I doubt miss Madoka wouldn't try to go to Gensokyo," Vita said.

"You shouldn't worry about it. Gensokyo is safe because we got the Great Hakurei Barrier protecting it," Sakuya said.

"What should we do now, Chrono?" Fate asked.

"You all should eat something first while waiting for Shamal to complete tending miss Reimu and miss Oriko's wound," Chrono replied.

"I agree. We cannot do anything in an empty stomach," Arf said before all of them stood up.

"Patchouli, did Yuuno come to the Arthra with you?" Nanoha asked as she noticed that Yuuno was not with them.

"No, but he did mentioned that he will be coming if he's not busy," Patchouli replied.

"I see."

...

The Arthra's cafeteria that was full of the ship's crewmembers earlier was almost empty as Marisa, Nanoha, Mami and the rest sat down together to have their dinner. No one created an opportunity to speak to each other after everything that had happened earlier. The sound of spoons clashing at the plate could be heard from everyone's plate as they ate their food, except Sayaka and Homura. Everyone could see Homura only looked down while shedding some tears. She did not bothered to look at them nor ate her food. Nanoha was comcerned about both Homura and Sayaka and decided to approach them.

"Both of you should eat. It's bad for your health if you two let yourselves starve," Nanoha said in a friendly tone. Neither Homura nor Sayaka responded to Nanoha. Nanoha exchanged look with Fate and the others for a second before she spoke again. "I know that both of you are worry about miss Madoka. But we need to put important things first..."

"What important things that we should do other than searching for Madoka!?" Sayaka finally spoke in a frustrated tone. Nanoha could see that Sayaka was unhappy with the current situation they were in.

"Be quiet and eat your food, Sayaka," Kyoko said.

"We shouldn't waste our time dwindling and eating while Madoka is still out there," Sayaka said.

"So you're saying that food isn't important?" Kyoko asked in an angry tone. But she still managed to control herself from raising her voice. "More importantly, you don't possess the soul gem anymore. It's impossible for you to search for her as a normal human being."

"Then I'll make a new contract with Kyuubey!"

"Are you stupid to let yourself become a living coarpse again!? Why are you going to let our effort in saving you go to waste!?"

"I don't have anything worth for my life! So I'd rather make a good use of my soul!"

"Stop it you two. We're at miss Admira Lindy's place right now," Mami tried to calm Kyoko and Sayaka down. But the two of them only ignored Mami as they glared at each other. Mami became more nervous before she looked at Alice. She was worried that Kyoko would change into her magical outfit form and beat Sayaka.

"The two of you should watch your manners," Alice said.

"You should stay out of this, miss Alice," Sayaka argued. "I had enough of this waiting. I want to search for Madoka."

"Finding Madoka is important, but planning out is our first priority right now," Signum finally spoke.

"That's right," all of them could hear a male voice. They looked at the direction where the voice came from and saw Chrono and Amy. "As I mentioned earlier, we all need to wait for miss Reimu and miss Oriko."

"Like I said, we don't have time to gather around and do nothing. What's the point of waiting for the two of them!?" Sayaka raised her voice as she looked at Chrono.

"I know how you feel right now, but..." Chrono tried to calm Sayaka down, but Sayaka immediately interrupted him.

"You don't know how it feels to lose someone nor to about losing someone," Sayaka said.

The moment she finished speaking she suddenly felt cold tension coming from Chrono as well as Fate, Hayate and the wolkenritter. But it was a feeling of lonliness and sadness instead of anger or hatred at Sayaka. Alice and Marisa only looked at everyone as they could also feel and saw eveything, while Remilia who was sitting at another table far away from them only ate her dinner and ignored the conflict.

Kyoko tried to stand up and intended to throw a hard punch at Sayaka's face for being selfish, but she was held by Fate who had already stood beside her. It was as if Fate already knew what Kyoko might do. Kyoko only looked at Fate who was shaking her head lightly with a smile. The moment Sayaka noticed this she immediately looked at Chrono who let out a small sigh.

"Anyway, Admiral Lindy wants to see you all after this," Chrono said before he turned around and left the cafeteria. Sayaka only watched him walked away without saying something that she should say. Amy looked at Chrono before she fixed her eyes on Sayaka. She felt a little bit angry with Sayaka's attitude but she decided to harbored the feeling as she did not want to make the situation worse.

"I think you should apologize to Chrono later," Amy said. "I don't really want you to know about this, but Chrono also had a fair experience on losing someone precious to him. He lost his father at the age of three when his father was on duty. But he made up for the loss as his way of gaining strength instead of grieving over his father's death."

Sayaka immediately felt guilty after she heard the story that Amy just told her. She looked down while clenching her hands as she did not know what she should do at the moment. Her mind instantly became blank and was unsure of what she should do before she felt someone touched her hand. She looked at the person and saw it was Hayate.

"Go on," Hayate said with a smile. "I know you're feeling guilty right now because of what you've said. But believe me that neither all of us nor Chrono will take everything you've said to heart. I promise you that."

Sayaka did not respond to Hayate as she immediately ran and quickly left the cafeteria. Everyone only looked at her before they let out a small sigh.

...

Sayaka looked down at the floor while running aimlessly as fast as she could. She was wondering if she managed to find Chrono even though she did not know where he had gone to. Her tears started to swell everytime she remembered every words that she had just said towards him earlier. She could feel that she could not forgive herself if she did not managed to apologize to him. She ran without looking forward before she finally tripped and fell onto the floor. Sayaka let out a small yet silent sob while trying to stand up before she felt someone approached her from behind. She slowly glanced and saw the person was Chrono.

"Are you all right?" Chrono asked as he stretched his hand to help Sayaka.

"Um... Y-yeah," Sayaka stuttered as she reached for Chrono's hand and slowly got up on her feet. She quickly wiped out her tears before Chrono could notice that she was crying. She stared between the floor and Chrono for a few times before she finally spoke. "Um... I'm sorry about what had happened earlier. I shouldn't said such thing to you without knowing your past. I'm really selfish for wanting everyone listen to me only."

Chrono could see Sayaka's tears began to swell up although she was trying her best to hold herself from crying. He then assumed that Sayaka was a fragile and kind hearted girl despite her tomboyish appearance. He then tried his best not to show his 'cold' attitude to make sure that Sayaka would not misunderstand him.

"I won't take what you've just said personally, so I'm not offended. Furthermore, I'm glad that you're all right after what had happened," Chrono said in a softest tone that he could make. Then he suddenly saw Sayaka had a bruise at her forehead. "Is your forehead fine?"

"This..." Sayaka trailed off as she lifted up her bangs. "I must've got it when I fell down earlier. I guess this is my reward for being selfish. I'm really pathetic."

Chrono started to feel awry as he saw Sayaka's tears started to swell once again. Since he did not have enough experience with a girl in a situation like Sayaka, he was feeling awkward in trying to figure out what he should do. At that time he was hoping that Amy was with him so that she could cheer Sayaka up. The only thing that he could do was to put his hand on Sayaka's shoulder.

"You shouldn't let yourself hurt like this," Chrono said before he took Sayaka's hand. "Shall I show you the way to the infirmary? Shamal might still be there."

"I-I'm fine, really," Sayaka stuttered as she quickly took away her hand and looked away from Chrono. She suddenly felt weird sensation inside her heart the moment Chrono touched her hand; a feeling that she used to feel before. In her mind she thought, _No, this isn't right. But... Why I suddenly... It's impossible..._

"Miss Sayaka, is there something wrong?" Chrono's question had made Sayaka snapped back from her thoughts into the reality. Sayaka looked at Chrono for a few second before she quickly looked away.

"N-no, nothing's wrong," Sayaka responded. Chrono put his hand into his pocket and took out his handkerchief.

"Here, you can use this then," Chrono said as he handed his handkerchief to Sayaka. Sayaka felt reluctant as she took the handkerchief from Chrono's hand.

"T-thank you," Sayaka said as she covered her mouth with the handkerchief. "By the way, c-can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

"L-lend me your ears, please," Sayaka requested. Chrono nodded and bent his body. As Sayaka whispered something towards Chrono's ear, she could feel his warmth radiated towards her face.

"Why would you want to do that?" Chrono asked in a curious tone after he finished listening to Sayaka.

"Because I had to do it. No... I must do it," Sayaka replied. Chrono could see determination in Sayaka's voice as well as through her eyes. He took a minute thinking about what Sayaka had just whispered to him before he let out a sigh.

"Alright, I try to ask admiral about it and see whether she'll allows it or not," Chrono said. "Are you really all right? Your face is awfully red."

"I-I'm fine. Sheesh," Sayaka pouted, trying to act like she was sulking before she curved a small nervous smile and started to walk away. But she then turned around and bowed slightly towards Chrono. "T-thank you for accepting my apology. I-I really appreciate it."

"You've done nothing wrong," Chrono replied. "Like I said, I know the situation you're in. So you should rest for a while to calm yourself down. All of us will do our best to help you find miss Madoka."

"O-okay. T-then I'll be leaving," Sayaka quickly turned back around and walked away as fast as she could. Chrono only looked at her with a confused look as he noticed sudden changes in her behaviour. But he decided to leave the matter as he turned around and walked away at opposite directon of Sayaka.

Sayaka headed towards the cafeteria as fast as she could without looking up before she bumped into Amy. Amy only smiled the moment she saw Sayaka before she noticed the expression on her face.

"Are you all right? Your face look quite red," Amy reproved.

"A-ah... I-I-I'm fine... So there's n-no need to worry about m-me," Sayaka stuttered as she replied. "I'll be heading to the cafeteria now. P-pardon me."

"Alright, be careful not to trip yourself. You're looking down a lot when you're walking earlier," Amy said. Sayaka only nodded before she walked away. The moment she recalled back her memories earlier, her face suddenly became redder. Marisa and the others looked at her as she entered the cafeteria.

"Welcome back," Nanoha said with a smile. "Did you managed to find Chrono?"

"U-uh, yeah," Sayaka said before she sat down. "Can you give me a few minutes? I want to eat something."

"Sure," Fate said before she stood up from her seat. "Since Kyoko had already ate your food earlier, I'm going to get you something."

"T-thank you," Sayaka replied. She noticed that Alice was looking at her as she lifted her head up. "I-is there something wrong, miss Alice?"

"No, I'm just wondering about the reason you're blushing right now," Alice replied with a smile.

"W-w-what are you talking about!?" Sayaka replied in a surprised tone. She guessed that she could not hide her expression from everyone. "I only tripped over earlier and embarrassed myself. That's all."

"Ah," Alice said before she let out a small giggle.

"Nothing more happened to me!" Sayaka argued in an embarrased tone, trying to convince Alice.

"So you're back to your normal self, huh," Kyoko said with a sigh. Sayaka only glared at Kyoko without saying anything. Somehow she could feel that the grief that she felt before slowly disappeared. She guessed that the feeling that she felt earlier had created a small hope and a refreshing heart and mind.

"Here's your food," Fate said as she put down a plate full of food for Sayaka. "Take your time, okay? Admiral Lindy won't be angry with us if we're a little bit late."

"Uh... Okay... Thank you," Sayaka said as she looked at Fate. Fate only smiled with a nod before she walked towards her seat and sat down. As soon as she finished eating her food, a transparent floating screen suddenly appeared near them. All of them looked at the screen and saw it was Shamal who was trying to communicate with them.

"Can everyone head to the infirmary room please?" Shamal asked in a calm tone. Yet everyone noticed that her voice was a little bit shaky.

"What's wrong?" Signum asked.

"Is there something wrong with Oriko!?" Kyoko suddenly asked in a concern tone.

"Well... There's a little bit problem going on here so please come here as soon as possible," Shamal said.

"All right," Nanoha said.

...

Everyone saw Kirika tied with a bind the moment they entered the infirmary room. They had not seen Kirika being very aggressive as she struggled to break free from the bind.

"Release me you damn woman! I'm going to kill that girl! I'm going to kill everyone who try to stop me!" Kirika shouted with full of insanity.

"What happen to her?" Alice asked.

"She suddenly went on a rampage after I told her Oriko may not be able to regain conscious for the time being. But it's not like I was saying that she won't be able to regain her consciousness at all," Shamal answered.

"You should give her some sedative drug," Signum suggested.

"I'd like to give her some but she didn't want to stay still," Shamal said.

"Pache," Remilia uttered Patchouli's name with a smile. Patchouli looked at Remilia with a small nod before she approached Kirika. Kirika glared at Patchouli who was extending her right arm in front of her face.

"_Urn erise kia surie ijun_," Patchouli chanted simple spell before she blew softly towards Kirika. Everyone noticed Kirika's eyes slowly shut off before she let out a small snore. Shamal slowly lifted Kirika and placed her on a chair beside Oriko.

"Is that a sleeping spell?" Shamal asked.

"Yes," Patchouli replied. "I'll be wiling to teach you if you want."

"Please do. It'll be useful for me later on."

"Man, just a while ago she looked like an insane person. Now she's sleeping like a child," Marisa said.

"Marisa, insane is not the right word to discribe her current condition. She's feeling down after what had happened to Oriko," Reimu rebuked. "Although I'm a little bit irritated when she's shouting a lot."

"Oh Reimu, I didn't know you're alive," Marisa joked.

"Very funny," Reimu said in an annoyed tone.

"My my, Reimu. I was hoping that I could see your depressed face after being defeated by a weak girl," Remilia said with a grin.

"Why would I?" Reimu asked. "It's true that her magic is different from us and if it weren't for Hayate, I would've really been killed for sure."

"I believe that our magic is stronger than what she possess, especially if we didn't stick to our spell card rules."

"Cancelling the spell card rules will only cause problems in Gensokyo," Reimu said as if she knew what Remilia meant.

"It's not like someone in Gensokyo will ever know about it."

"No means no. I know something will go wrong if we're going to undo the spell card rules."

"You didn't use any of your strongest spell cards?" Sakuya asked.

"No, I only used normal spell cards," Reimu replied.

"She don't want to hurt miss Madoka, so that's why she don't want to use stronger spell cards," Alice said.

"Well, yeah. She's just a young girl," Reimu said. "But the most confusing part about her was that everything that she had said was contradicted to one and another. She mentioned she wanted to save magical girls. But on one point she tried to kill Oriko and me."

"She was possessed by the Jewel Seed that you might've saw floating around her before she disappeared," Lindy said as she had already entered the infirmary room with Chrono. Sayaka suddenly blushed the moment she saw him and quickly decided to look away. She then noticed that Mami was looking at her.

"What?" Sayaka whispered.

"Nothing. I'm just wondering if something happened between the two of you. It's been quite a while since I last saw you like this," Mami replied.

"T-t-there's nothing between the two of us," Sayaka stuttered. Mami only smile without saying anything further.

"Admiral, why are you here?" Nanoha asked.

"I just want to check up at the trouble that is occuring here, but it seems everything is under control," Lindy said.

"Yup, Patchouli handled it a while ago," Marisa grinned.

"I see," Lindy said. "I've looked into the report earlier. I'm sorry I couldn't send any support because Mitakihara City was surrounded by a strange barrier fused by Mid-childan type barrier."

"Strange barrier?" Fate asked. Lindy nodded before she waved her hand into the air. A floating screen appeared out of nowhere, showing an image of Mitakihara City covered by a black dome.

"Isn't that the barrier that I've set up before all of us went to search for miss Sayaka?" Nanoha asked.

"That's right. There aren't any difference if you look at it physically. But..." Lindy trailed off as another floating screen appeared, showing a various symbols. "This is the code that was used for the barrier. Some of the code was replaced with unknown symbols and languages, making it harder to dispel it or break through it. I assume that it was miss Madoka who made such changes."

"Wait, I recognise that symbols. That's the runic alphabets that were used in our magic which can also be found in witch's lair," Mami said.

"As well as ancient yokai languages," Patchouli said. "The question is, how did she knew such languages? She only possess your kind of magic."

"We don't know the details," Lindy said. "But we'll try our best to find her as soon as possible. One thing for sure, this type of barrier will be a hinderance if we couldn't do anything about it."

"Please let me join the search too," Homura said.

"Count me in too," Reimu said as she got off from her bed.

"Are you going to be all right?" Lindy asked in a concern tone.

"I'll be all right. Shamal had already fully healed me," Reimu said as she turned and faced Shamal. "Thank you for your help."

"It's fine, really," Shamal said with a smile.

"Hey Reimu, Remilia said that Flandre also had the Jewel Seed," Marisa said.

"What!? Remilia, why did you kept that a secret?" Reimu asked.

"I thought that jewel was a part of the witch that appeared," Remilia replied.

"Why must problems keep occuring one after another?" Reimu muttered. "We must head back to Gensokyo right away."

"Hold on. Don't you remember what we should do here?" Alice asked. "Defeat the witch... Find the source... Seal..."

"But Gensokyo might be in danger if we don't do something," Reimu said.

"Miss Reimu, is there any chance to let us inside Gensokyo? We might be able to help retrieving the Jewel Seed," Lindy asked in a soft tone, trying to persuade Reimu. Reimu shifted her sight between Lindy and the rest several times. She clearly showed that she was feeling uneasy with the question.

"Alright," Reimu finally said. "But I'll limit to only three persons, accompany by either me or Marisa."

"Wait, I'll be their guide. After all, I'm the one who know where the Jewel Seed actually is. Besides this is related to Flandre," Remilia said.

"Fine then," Reimu said in an unsatisfied tone.

"Is you little sister all right when she found the Jewel Seed?" Lindy asked.

"Yes, although she's acting strange everytime she's playing with the seed," Remilia replied.

"I see," Lindy said. "Alright. You all should head back for now and start tomorrow,"

"What about..." Kyoko tried to ask about Oriko's condition, but she suddenly stopped as she along with the rest heard Oriko's voice.

"Ugh... Where... am I?" Oriko tried to sit up straight.

"Oi, are you all right? You shouldn't force yourself to get up," Kyoko said as she tried to help Oriko lay down back on the bed. Everyone especially Mami and Sayaka were a little bit surprised after they saw changes in Kyoko's behaviour. For Mami, she felt that Kyoko started to become her old self once again.

"Uh... Okay. Thanks," Oriko said.

"Oriko will stay here for a while with Kirika. She needs to take her time to heal," Shamal said.

"You mean you can't fully heal her?" Kyoko asked.

"Her wounds had already been completely healed. But since she lost quite a lot amount of blood, so she need to have proper medical treatment. Even if we use blood transfusion, it'll still take a while for her to regain her normal strength," Shamal replied.

"Go on. Kirika and I don't have any use for you all anymore since we lost our magic abilities. We'll just be a hinderance for you all. I'm also afraid that Kirika will go rampage if I'm going to join you after this," Oriko said with a smile.

"Well..." Marisa did not managed to speak as her mouth was covered by Alice's hands. Oriko tilted her head, waiting for Marisa to continue what she wanted to say. Marisa only smiled and said, "Nothing, I hope that you'll be okay."

"Don't say such thing. You've done more than enough for us," Signum said.

"I agree. You've been kind to us and your cooking was delicious," Reimu praised.

"So take your time to recover yourself," Nanoha said.

"Thank you, everyone," Oriko said. Everyone could see sadness behind Oriko's face despite she tried hard to curve a smile.

"Where's Yukari?" Reimu asked as she noticed that Yukari was not in the group.

"Now you've mentioned it, I haven't seen her yet," Alice said.

"Miss Yukari and her companion had already gone to Gensokyo. She said that something had caught her attention. Miss Nitori is the only one left here but she's busy inside her room," Chrono answered.

"That Yukari... She's making an excuse so that she don't have to help us," Reimu said in an annoyed tone.

"Shall we head back, Reimu?" Fate asked.

"Yes. We need to take a rest and prepare ourselves to face the so-called greatest and most powerful witch in the world in a week," Reimu replied.

"Oh dang, we forgot about that witch," Marisa said.

"I suppose we'll discuss about how to handle those two matter when we get back," Signum suggested.

"I agree," Alice said with a nod.

"By the way miss Rimu, I need to speak with you and your friends as well as miss Mami, Kyoko and Homura before you all leave," Lindy said.

"Alright," Reimu said. All of them started to leave the infirmary room before Mami noticed that Kyoko was still standing beside Oriko's bed.

"Kyoko?" Mami called.

"You all go ahead. I'll catch up later," Kyoko said without looking at Mami. Mami looked at Kyoko for a few second before she turned and left the room. Silence broke out inside the infirmary room as neither Kyoko nor Oriko opened their mouth to speak. Kyoko only scratched her head as she was feeling uneasy with the awkward silence and decided to speak first.

"Why did you saved me even though you didn't have any magic abilities left? It's not that I want your help," Kyoko said while trying to avoid eye contact with Oriko. Oriko looked at Kyoko before she set her eyes at her hands and took a few deep breath.

"That's because I saw everything," Oriko said. Kyoko raised her eyebrow as she did not understand what Oriko had just said. "Before my magic was completely drained off from me, my clairvoyance ability was activated and I had foresaw the future. I saw your soul gem shattered the moment miss Madoka thrusted her hand towards you."

"So you're wiling to sacrifice yourself to save me? Pathetic. Aren't you concern about your parents that will be sad if you died back then?" Kyoko asked.

"My parents already dead. My father commited suicide because he was found guilty for being a corrupted politician. While my mother also did the same as my father did because she couldn't stand the humiliation from the people around us," Oriko's answer made Kyoko fell silent. Kyoko felt her heart throbbing hard before she turned around and started walking towards the door. Oriko looked at her with a concern expression.

"Miss Kyoko, I'm sorry if my action hurt your feeling and insult you. I know that you're a very skilled magical girl. It's just that I'm afraid that my clairvoyance came true at that time. I'm afraid that you'll be killed. Seeing you lying lifelessly on the floor in my clairvoyance made me feel weak. That's why I'm trying to save you," Oriko said. Kyoko stopped in front of the door after she heard Oriko said that, but she still did not turn around to look at her.

"You just did what you felt right at that time, so I'm not angry with you," Kyoko said. "One more thing, you don't have to be too formal with me. Just call me Kyoko. I'm sorry... and thank you."

After saying that, Kyoko immediately left the infirmary room without waiting for Oriko to respond to her. Oriko only watched Kyoko rushed off before she curved a small smile while patting Kirika's head.

...

"Man, what a tiring night," Marisa said while stretching her arms after the dimension transfer magic circle died down. All of them stood in front of Oriko's mansion that was full of silence since there was no one inside.

"Is it okay for us to use Oriko's mansion right now?" Nanoha asked.

"Oriko had already gave her permission earlier, so it's fine," Marisa said as she looked at Nanoha. "Shouldn't you three head home?"

"We don't have any class tomorrow, so we'll be just fine," Fate replied.

"Me too. I've already contacted my parents before and told them I'm staying with you all tonight," Nanoha said.

"Ah I see."

"I hope Oriko will recover soon," Mami said.

"She must recover or I'll beat her up," Kyoko said.

"I didn't expect you to care so much for her despite your delinquent attitude," Arf said.

"Shut up. I'm not concern about her," Kyoko said.

"But you've really changed. The old you usually didn't care about anyone," Mami said.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Kyoko said. She tried to avoid making an eye contact with everyone so that she can hide her expression at the moment.

"Should we accept miss Lindy's offer?" Sakuya suddenly asked.

"I'm not really interested in that matter," Remilia said.

"I think miss Lindy had an interesting idea about her offer and it's for our precaution of course," Sakuya said.

"I'm sure that you'll get benefit's from it as we don't know what other unexpected things will occur after this," Nanoha said.

"I agree. I'm very excited about that," Marisa said.

"How about you three?" Alice asked Mami, Homura and Kyoko.

"I think I'll accept miss Lindy's offer for my safety," Mami replied.

"Me too," Kyoko said in a bored tone.

"If she agree to my request, then I'll accept her offer," Homura said.

"You sure are a hard headed person," Vita said.

"I do this all for Madoka, not for myself," Homura argued.

"I'm sure miss Madoka is an important person in your life," Hayate said as she looked at Homura with a smile.

"Y-yes, she is," Homura replied.

"By the way, why did Sayaka suddenly decided to stay behind?" Marisa asked.

"She said she had something to ask Admiral Lindy," Arf replied.

"I wonder what could it be?" Marisa put her hand under her chin while smiling.

"Patchouli also stayed behind right?" Fate asked.

"Yeah, she's still in the middle of her experiment just before you all were searching for Sakaya," Remilia said.

"It's Sayaka, mi'lady," Sakuya corrected Remilia's mistake.

"Ah yes. Sayaka," Remilia grinned. Everyone except Reimu and her companion were a little bit surprised that Remilia misspelt Sayaka's name. They guessed that even the great vampire could also made a mistake. As everyone reached the front door, Reimu turned the knob and slowly opened the door before she suddenly stopped.

"Can you feel it, Reimu?" Fate asked.

"Yes. Good thing that my barrier is still active," Reimu said. Homura, Mami and Kyoko looked at both Fate and Reimu while wondering about what they were talking at the moment.

"Is there something wrong?" Mami asked as she looked at Alice.

"There's something or someone inside the mansion but it's not showing any sign of malice... for now that is," Alice replied.

"Well, we can just beat it up if it start to attack us," Remilia said. The moment Reimu widened the door, all of them could only saw small white creature sitting on the floor while wagging it's tail, as if it was waiting for them to return to the mansion.

"Kyuubey..." Homura growled with full of hatred.

"Yo little white devil, you looked like you're waiting for someone," Marisa said in a friendly tone although she was holding mini Hakkero in her hand.

"What brings you here?" Nanoha asked. She and her friends seemed calm about Kyuubey's appearance.

"I was waiting for you all to return to this mansion," Kyuubey replied.

"So you're waiting for us so that you can eliminate us!?" Kyoko asked in a rude manner as she changed into her magical outfit.

"Is there any reason for you waiting for us?" Mami asked in an unfriendly manner.

"He he he, it seems that everyone is showing their hostility towards you," Remilia said while giggling as she stepped inside the mansion, followed by Sakuya. "Well, I'm not really interested in whatever you want to say. I'll be heading to my room and enjoy my night."

"That's Remilia for ya," Marisa said.

"If only Flan didn't involved with the Jewel Seed, I don't really want Remi to be here," Reimu muttered and let out a sigh. Then she exchanged look with Kyuubey for a few second. "So, are you going to speak or leave?"

"I'll speak. After all, this is for our own safety and lives," Kyuubey replied.

"I think you mean your life only," Arf condemmed.

"I think it's best for us to listen to what he have to say," Hayate said.

"You're such a kind little girl, Hayate," Alice said while patting Hayate's head. Hayate only smiled after she heard Alice praised her. "Well if we want to discuss, we should head inside then. I don't want to have a chat outside in this cold night."

"Right," Reimu said. All of them went inside the mansion and immediately headed towards the living room. Each of them took a seat while Kyuubey leaped onto the table. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I'm here because I want you to lend me your powers to stop Madoka," Kyuubey said.

"Oho, a magical creature had became powerless," Marisa said.

"It's not a matter of becoming powerless or not," Kyuubey said.

"Why don't you seek help from other magical girls who didn't know about the truth?" Fate asked.

"I do intend to seek help from them if they didn't know the truth," Kyuubey replied.

"Do you mean that the other magical girls had already know about the truth that you were hiding all this time?" Signum asked.

"I'd say they knew the truth," Kyuubey replied.

"So that's why you don't want to seek help from them," Vita said.

"Rather than seeking help from them, I would say that it was much more worse than that," Kyuubey said.

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked.

"I just mean what I had meant," Kyuubey replied, much to annoy Kyoko.

"We're not really interested in helping you," Reimu said while glancing at everyone.

"I agree. You should deal with you problem on your own. You only want us to do the dirty works for you," Arf said.

"Well then, I've tried my best to give you all the best offer that you can accept," Kyuubey said as he jumped towards the window and left the mansion into the dark night.

"I've get a bad feeling about what Kyuubey had just said," Mami said.

"It's just your feeling," Kyoko said while putting both her arms behind her head. Before Mami managed to say something, the mansion suddenly shook by a sudden blast.

"What just happened!?" Shamal asked.

"It seems it's coming from outside the mansion," Nanoha said. Everyone immediately stood up and looked outside the mansion. Their eyes widened as they saw something unexpected right before their eyes.

"Heh, this is a joke right?" Marisa asked while scratching her head.

"I don't think this is a joke nor a laughing matter," Vita said.

"I didn't say it's a joke," Marisa rebuked.

"Whatever this problem is, I'm hoping we won't do this the hard way," Reimu sighed.

...

"Admiral, shouldn't we tell them about what had actually happened at miss Madoka's home?" Chrono asked in a low voice as he stood beside Lindy, so that he could prevent Sayaka from hearing their conversation.

"I know that we shouldn't keep it a secret, but I don't want them to get caught and accused of something they didn't do. We'll let the the nation's government handle the situation," Lindy replied.

"But they'll found out sooner or later," Chrono said.

"Yes, I'm aware of that matter," Lindy said. She took a deep breath hold it for a few second before she let it out slowly. "Yet I feel sorry for miss Madoka. She didn't deserve everything that had happened in this timeline nor in the past timeline. Miss Homura is also not to be blamed because she didn't know her power could bring more curse to their own fate, although we managed to save miss Mami and miss Sayaka."

"But we're also not at fault because we're trying to stop the incident," Chrono said.

"Yes, I know. However I will take responsible for everything that will happen to miss Madoka after we solve and end all of these incidents," Lindy said.


	16. extra chapter I

Hello there.

Well, here it is. The extra chapter which tell a backstory about Oriko that had happened between chapter one and chapter two. Oh, I think I forgot to say this... I hope that everyone aren't concern of my fanon ideas and 'facts' (whether in this chapter or previous chapters). That means Oriko's thoughts and action was based on my imagination of her when she took a different path of her life. I hope this will answer SuperNova23's question in the review. :3

I thank pltrgst for pointing at a little bit of error in my previous chapter. I think I accidentally typed my native language instead of English. So, I've already corrected the error. * 'Kelaparan' literally mean 'starve'. *

**15.5: Extra Chapter I**

I wish... I wish I know the reason for me to live...

Those were the sole wish that Oriko had in mind as she covered herself with a blanket. Even though it was a warm night she was shivering hard, as if she was trying to endure a cold weather. But the truth she was enduring the coldness that was struck deep inside her frozen heart.

The humiliation that she faced everywhere she went including at the school had made her filled with loneliness. She had to accept the harsh reality that her father that she trusted so much was a corrupted politician who killed himself after he was found guilty. Her mother had also commited suicide due to extreme pressure that she received for being a corrupted politician's wife, leaving only Oriko behind on the cruel world.

"Another night befall before another daylight stike again in ten hours, huh," Oriko muttered as she looked at the clock; it was eight o'clock. She felt as if she was spending hours and hours in endless day and night. "When will this nightmare end for me? I just wish..."

"What do you wish for?" Oriko suddenly heard a voice ringing inside her head. She quickly took a look around her before she saw a white creature sitting on a shelf beside her. She slowly stood up and carefully examined the creature. Once again she heard the voice. "I can feel that you have something that you wish for."

"What are you?" Oriko asked in a monotone yet surprised tone. She could not believe something looked like an imaginary creature was looking at her with its pair of red eyes.

"I'm Kyuubey," the creature, Kyuubey, introduce himself. "I'm here to grant you your wish."

"My... wish?" Oriko asked as if she did not understand. But deep inside her heart she knew what Kyuubey was talking about.

"Yes, your wish. But in exchange for your wish being granted, you will help me fight witches," Kyuubey said.

"Witches?" Oriko continued to ask. She was in between interested with Kyuubey's offer and concerned about the witches. At the same time she felt she was hallucinating due to extreme stress. So she extended her hand and pinched Kyuubey's cheek.

"Don't worry. I'm not an imaginary creature so you're not hallucinating," Kyuubey said. Oriko lowered down her hand and waited for Kyuubey to continue his explaination. "A witch is a creature that was born from darkness and grief. When I granted your wish, I will also bestow magical powers upon you. So in exchange for your wish, you'll be using your powers to fight off all the witches."

"I see," Oriko said. In all the desperation that she felt all the time, she only had one sole wish in her mind. "I always wonder the reason for me to be born and live as a human. I only wish the reason for my existance. So Kyuubey, grant me my wish."

Oriko noticed her body was enveloped in light before she felt a pain inside her chest. She saw an orb slowly emerged from her chest and stopped in front of her.

"Now, grab that orb in front of you," Kyuubey instructed. Oriko did as Kyuubey told her to do and watched the orb formed into a egg-shaped jewel protected by a metal casing. Oriko noticed her clothes had changed as jewel changed form and positioned itself on a large ribbon below her neck. But before she became excited with the magical powers that she had just obtained, her mind suddenly was full of visions that she could not believe.

_What is this!?_ Oriko thought. Her eyes widened for everything that she saw in her vision; it was a vision of a young girl with pink hair tied into a twintail defeating a giant witch before the girl herself turned into a more malicious witch that bring destruction in an instant.

Oriko fell on her knees as she breathe heavily. Her clothes had already completely drenched with her sweat. She was unsure how long she was sucked deep into her clairvoyance. But one thing that she realized that it was a mistake for any girls to make a contract with Kyuubey just to have their wish granted. She silently stared at him with her 'lifeless' eyes.

"It seems your wish had came true," Kyuubey said.

"Yes," Oriko said as she stood up. "Now if you excuse, I want to rest for a little bit."

"Alright," Kyuubey replied as he leaped onto the balcony. "I hope you can defeat numerous witches so that this world can find peace."

_Peace, huh?_ Oriko thought as she watched Kyuubey disappeared from her sight.

...

**A week later:**

Oriko took her usual night time walk down the street. But her purpose of doing so was to find and eliminate any magical girls she encountered. She had no problem in finding them since she had developed her way of searching for them using her soul gem, although sometimes it ended up led her to several witch's lairs. The only factor that hindered her from accomplishing her own 'sacred' duty was her lack of stamina and health. But she managed to defeat and kill every magical girls she met using her friendly approach.

Oriko firmly grasp her soul gem as she continued walking until her soul gem slowly blinked. She then held up her soul gem and went towards a direction where the soul gem reacted and gave a bright glow. Soon she arrived at a school that she used to go. She looked around to see whether there was anyone present before she changed into her magical girl outfit. She quickly jumped over the gave and slowly walked around before she heard voices. She took a peek from behind the school's building and saw four girls stood just approximately 100 metres in front of her.

"This is why I don't like to agree with her. She just dumped us out of nowhere," one of the girls with a large red ribbon at the back of her head said in an annoyed tone.

"But this isn't a bad idea especially since that creature is disturbing our peaceful days," the girl who wore black and white clothes said.

"The problem is we don't have a place to sleep nor any money to buy something in this world," the girl with short blonde hair said.

"If only there's a place for me to find books," the girl that looked like she was wearing a pajama said with a sigh.

Oriko observed the four weird girls talking to each other and she could see that they were having problems with something. She was certain that the girls were magical girls so she decided to approached them with her usual 'friendly approach' strategy. She planned to shoot her sphere projectiles the moment they showed their soul gem.

"Hello," Oriko greeted with a smile. The four girls stared at her for a few second before the girl in white and black spoke.

"Yo," the girl greeted back casually with her cheerful voice. "Are you someone around here? Can you allow us to sleep in this building?"

"Yes, I am. I'm Mikuni Oriko. As for your second answer, I don't think you want to sleep inside the school," Oriko replied with a smile. In her mind she was puzzled by the girl's question, as if the girl did not know they were at the school at the moment.

"This is a school!? It's so big!" The girl said with an impressed tone, which added to Oriko's curiosity. Then the girl gestured her hand at herself and her friends. "I'm Kirisame Marisa, and this is Hakurei Reimu, Alice Margatroid and Patchouli Knowledge."

"Nice to meet you," Oriko bowed slightly. Once again she was puzzled with all the girls' name, as if they were some kind of fictional characters from a book. But she ignored her thoughts and focused on her plan. "You all can come to my house if you don't have any place to stay."

"You're such a good girl," Alice said. Oriko did not received such praise for a long time that she felt a little bit of happiness after she heard the praise. But it still did not stop her from continuing her plan. All of them walked towards the main school gate before Oriko suddenly stopped and turned towards Reimu and the others.

"What's wrong?" Reimu asked.

"Before we're going to my home, can you show me your soul gem?" Oriko asked in a friendly tone. Reimu and her companions looked at each other with a puzzled expression before the stared at Oriko.

"What is a soul gem?" Patchouli asked.

"Aren't you magical girls?" Oriko tilted her head. She was getting more confused by every conversation they were having. She noticed that Reimu and the others started to become aware while staring at her although they did not show any sign of hostility.

"How did you know we have some kind of magical powers?" Reimu asked with her eyebrow raised.

"That's because I'm also a magical girl," Oriko replied as she conjured dozens of spheres around her. Then she asked Reimu and other others again in a calm but threatening tone. "Would you all please show your soul gem?"

"We don't have such thing as the soul gem," Alice answered.

"Liar," Oriko said with a smile before she shot her sphere pojectiles towards Reimu and her companions. Her eyes widened the moment she saw them easily grazed between the projectiles. She continued to conjured her spheres as she tried to gain some distance from them, but the fact was that Reimu and the others were approaching her from four directions.

"Spell card! summer Red!" Patchouli pulled out a card and declared her spell. A large fireball formed in front of her before it accelerated towards Oriko. Oriko's body suddenly felt weak as she was trying to dodge the fireball.

_No, not now!_ Oriko thought. It was too late for her to defend herself as the fireball hit her hard and threw her onto the concrete wall behind her. She started to feel dizzy as she tried to stand up. But her weak physical body had already gave up that she collapsed onto the ground. She did not expect that she would be fighting someone who was stronger than her. Her weak eyes watched Reimu and the others walked slowly approaching her before the world around her started to fade to black.

"Man, what's really wrong with her? She attacked us all of the sudden after being nice to us," Marisa grunted.

"This isn't unusual for you since everyone in Gensokyo always being nice before they created an incident," Reimu said.

"But this isn't Gensokyo," Marisa argued. "But I'm surprised that there's a magic user at the outside world."

"Expect the unexpected," Patchouli said.

"So what're we going to do with her? Should we leave her here?"

"It's best for us to bring her to her home," Alice suggested.

"How are we going to do that?" Reimu asked.

"Just ask someone who we'll meet along the way," Alice replied.

...

My wish... My wish... My...

Oriko slowly opened her eyes and trailed around before she slowly got up. Despite she was still having a headache after the fight she had earlier, she still could recognize that she was at the living room inside her home.

"How... did I get here?" Oriko muttered. As she tried to stand up she noticed a doll was floating around her as if it was waiting for her to wake up, before it quickly left the living room. Oriko was puzzled to see the doll as she remembered that she did not possessed a magic that can control it. It was not long when she saw four girls sitting on a sofa near her that she immediately recognized as Reimu and her companions entered the room. Oriko immediately sat up and changed her attire. But her weak body gave up before she could do anything, collapsing on the floor.

"Don't force yourself," Alice said while helping Oriko sat down on the sofa before Oriko pushed her hands away.

"That's rude of you to be doing that," Reimu rebuked instead of Alice.

"Why are you the one who become angry with her attitude?" Alice asked with a sigh.

"That's because she's rude to us. She challanged us to a duel without saying anything, and now she's trying to reject our kindness. She didn't even thank us for bringing her to her home," Reimu replied.

"We don't even know if this is her home," Patchouli said.

"Don't mind them. They're always like this at Gensokyo," Marisa said as she sat down near Oriko. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands after the word 'Gensokyo' slipped out from her mouth and immediately changed the topic before Oriko even managed to say something. "But hey, is this really your home?"

Oriko only nodded slowly without saying anything. She was wondering how Reimu and the others knew where she lived.

"Man, what's wrong with this place? I mean, no one care about you when we were asking about where you live," Marisa said.

"They even tried to avoid us when we're carried you on our back," Patchouli said.

"You mean on my back," Marisa was annoyed by Patchouli's statement.

"But it's a good thing some childrens were wiling to help us although they said they were doing it secretly without their parents' permission," Alice said. "Is there any reason for the hostility at this place?"

"It's been that way. The people in this city hates me because of my father," Oriko replied.

"Oh yeah, speaking of which... where are your parents? Are you living alone in this mansion?" Marisa asked. She as well as the others noticed Oriko's expression changed the moment she heard the question. "Never mind. Just forget about what I've just asked."

"My parents already dead. My father commited suicide after he was found guilty for being a corrupted politician, followed by my mother who also did the same after she could not bear the humiliation that we've received by the people around us," Oriko explained slowly.

Alice immediately smacked Marisa's head for asking a very sensetive question. Reimu and Patchouli only listened to Oriko's explaination as neither the two of them know what they should say at that moment.

"We're sorry for the rude question," Alice spoke while pinching Marisa's cheek. "Marisa, apologize to her right now."

"Sorry Oriko, I didn't know about your rough life," Marisa said, calling Oriko by her name.

"That's all right. I'm not offended about it," Oriko said. All of them could see Oriko's empty eyes as she stared at them, as if she had already gave up on her life. Suddenly she foresaw everything that will happen later that night. Reimu and the others looked at Oriko held her hand up at her face, breathing heavily.

"Miss Oriko, are you all right?" Alice asked as she continued to shake Oriko's body.

"Huh? What?" Oriko muttered like she was just woke up from her sleep. "It's... nothing..."

"It seems there's something in that nothing," Patchouli said. Oriko looked at her and the rest for a few second. She had to tell them what she saw in her vision for their safety.

"I foresaw in my vision that a magical girl will come to kill me tonight. You all have to leave right now before she'll kill you too," Oriko said. Reimu and the others looked at each other in silence.

"I'll put up an illusion barrier in here then," Reimu spoke as she stood up and took out her Gohei and some talisman. She immediately chanted something before the talismans she held floated and slowly vanished into the thin air. "There you have it. That so called magical girl wouldn't be able to see us at all."

"But... nothing happened," Oriko said.

"Don't worry too much. It's already been in effect," Reimu said. But Oriko was not convinced with her.

"We couldn't feel the presence of the barrier except Reimu," Marisa said before all of them heard the door slowly let out a creaking sound. "Oh, speaking of the devil, it seems that girl is here."

All of them watched the person as she quietly barged into the dining room. She had long silky black hair and wore a purple and white clothes, equipped with something that looked like a round shield on her left arm. While the person was visible to Oriko and the rest she on the other hand could not manage to see the five of them at all, as if they were protected by something from her vision. But seeing the person was enough for Oriko to change into her magical girl clothes to prepare to fight. Soon the girl left the dining room after she made a dispute expression as she looked at the table.

"Whew, she's quite a dangerous girl with her devilish eyes," Marisa said as she mimicked the girl's eyes.

"Didn't I told you not to worry?" Reimu asked.

"Yes, you did," Oriko replied. "Why... are you all helping me? I've... tried to kill you."

Her sudden statement had made Reimu and the others felt a little bit tense since they thought that Oriko ws only challanging them to a duel earlier.

"You mean that you're trying to kill us instead of challanged us to a duel?" Patchouli asked, trying to confirm Oriko's statement.

"Yes," Oriko nodded in response. "So you could've let me die instead of living in this world full of hatred."

"So you're wiling to die in sadness rather than live and die in peace?" Reimu asked. Oriko did not answer the question. Rather, she could not find an answer for the question herself. It started to make her confused with what she truly wanted to achieve in her life.

"May we ask who the person that came earlier was and what she wanted from you?" Alice asked.

"I don't know the person, but I do know she have some connections with someone who will bring destruction towards this city," Oriko replied. She slowly explained about magical girls, soul gem, witches and Kyuubey as well as her clairvoyance from the start up till recent vision that she had. She even explained that the reason she was assaulting magical girls was practically to 'save' them.

"And you're one of the girls who had made a contract with Kyuubey in return for your wish?" Patchouli asked. Oriko nodded without hesitated.

"So that thing does came from outside world," Marisa said.

"Outside world? Does that refer to this world you're all currently at? I did remember that miss Marisa mentioned something about Gensokyo. Where is that? Does that mean you're not from this world?" Oriko asked.

Reimu looked at Oriko who kept doubting them. She then felt that she should explain everything in exchange for something that she needed from someone outside Gensokyo. At the same time she glared at Marisa who had slipped something that she should have been kept it as a secret. Reimu explained what Gensokyo is and how it looked like. She could see Oriko's eyes slowly widened and glittered, as if it was coming back to life while imagining Gensokyo.

"Hey Reimu, aren't we supposed to keep Gensokyo a secret like you've told us to?" Marisa asked while lifting her eyebrow.

"You're the one who didn't kept it as a secret," Reimu replied in an annoyed tone before she looked at Oriko. "But in return, I want you to help us in finding the source of the witches."

"It's right here," Oriko said as she materialized her soul gem.

"There? What do you mean by that?" Patchouli asked while looking at Oriko's soul gem that shone beautifully.

"I'm not sure for myself but as I mentioned earlier, I foresaw a magical girl herself turned into a witch after she defeated another witch," Oriko explained.

"But why did the girl turned into a witch after defeating another witch?" Marisa asked.

"I don't know. I couldn't find an appropriate answer for it. The only thing I know from my clairvoyance was that the girl's soul gem had turned black before it shattered," Oriko replied. All of them went silence as they did not know what they should say, probably since they were tired for the night.

"Well, I think we should go now," Alice said as she stood up.

"But where are you all going? I remember you didn't have any place to stay," Oriko said.

"We'll manage about it... I think," Marisa scratched her head, unsure if they could find a place to sleep.

"Why don't... you all stay here then?" Oriko asked.

"We don't want to trouble you too much," Reimu said.

"I'm all alone, so you all won't be a bother to me. After all, I was the one who invited you all to stay at my home," Oriko insisted. Alice was the first one who could feel Oriko was longing for a conpanion to ease her loneliness as she unsderstood the feeling ever since she left Makai and her mother, Shinki.

"I don't think it'll be no harm to accept miss Oriko's offer then. After all, we don't have a place to stay," Alice said.

"I'll get all of your bedroom ready then," Oriko said as she stood up.

"Let me help you," Alice said as she summoned several dolls. Once again Oriko seemed entranced by the dolls that looked like it was moving on its own. Alice only smiled as she followed Oriko out of the living room with her dolls.

"So what're we going to do now?" Patchouli asked.

"Let's rest for tonight and discuss what we should do tomorrow," Reimu suggested.

"Good idea. I'm really tired right now and my mind couldn't really handle difficult discussion this time," Marisa smiled. Patchouli only sighed while looking at both Reimu and Marisa. She wished that she was not involved with the mission that they were given at the moment.

...

My wish... My wish... My...

Oriko woke up from her slumber as bright morning sunlight shone at her face. She groaned as she got up from her bed while her thoughts were remembering that she did pulled down the curtains. The moment her vision adjusted to the brightness of her bedroom she could see two dolls floating in front of her, pulling up the curtains.

"Huh? What?" Oriko muttered as she tried to touch the dolls.

"Good morning," Alice greeted as she entered the room.

"Good morning," Oriko greeted back.

"Breakfast will be ready in just a few minutes, so I thought I suppose I should wake you up," Alice replied.

"Breakfast?" Oriko's sleepy mind still could not receive their conversation well. Rather, she seemed to forget that Reimu and the others were staying the night before at her mansion. Oriko wobbled as she tried to stand up before she sat back down on her bed.

"Yes, breakfast," Alice said with a smile as she looked at Oriko's behaviour. "I didn't expect an elegant girl such as yourself is this clumsy in the morning. Come on, wash yourself before having our breakfast."

Alice left Oriko's room so that Oriko could take a few minutes to get herself ready. As Oriko remembered about Reimu and her friends, she quickly cleaned herself and immediately headed towards the kitchen. She could see Reimu, Marisa and Alice had already finished preparing something to eat, accompanied by several dolls.

"Yo, good morning," Marisa greeted with a cheerful voice.

"Everyone, may I know why you're all cooking?" Oriko asked.

"We're making breakfast, if you can see it for yourself," Reimu replied.

"We want to show our gratitude to for helping us. But we apologize for using your kitchen without your permission," Alice said. Oriko was puzzled to hear Alice said such thing. She was sure that her intention of trying to kill them was enough for them to hate and despise her.

"Why are you doing this? Shouldn't you all hate me for trying to kill you? Oriko was unsatisfied with her thoughts then asked.

"We always encountered problems like that it doesn't really bothering us much," Reimu replied.

"But I still don't get it," Oriko said

"Never mind the details, okay?" Marisa said while patting Oriko's head berfore Alice suddenly hit her head. "Ouch! What's that for!?"

"Miss Oriko is certainly older than you. Even if she's not, you shouldn't treat her like a small girl," Alice rebuked.

"Miss Alice, it's all right. I'm not angry," Oriko said. For a moment she felt nostalgic the moment Marisa patted her head. It was the feeling that she wanted to feel once again for quite a long time.

"You shouldn't spoil Marisa too much because she's a tricky thief," Alice said.

"I'm not a thief, you puppeteer youkai," Marisa said in an annoyed tone.

"Here we go," Reimu muttered as she finished putting the food she just cooked onto several plates, ignoring Alice and Marisa. "Let's have our breakfast. I'm hungry."

All of them immediately headed towards the dining room and sat down to have their breakfast. Oriko looked at Reimu, Marisa and Alice as she finished eating her food before she noticed someone was missing at that time.

"By the way, where is miss Patchouli?" Oriko asked.

"She's at your personal library right now," Alice said.

"Shouldn't we call her for breakfast?"

"Nah, she'll be forever inside that room since she found fountains of books," Reimu said.

"That's not good. She should eat something," Oriko said as she stood up and picked up a plate filled with foods. "I'll bring the food to her."

Oriko left the dining room and headed straight towards the study room. She doubt that anything inside the room actually interests Patchouli since she remembered that it was mostly filled with books about politics that her father used to read.

The moment Oriko opened the door, she was entranced by the colourful illumination emmited from Patchouli's magic. It was as if she was watching colourful lights that she used to watch during festivals. The illumination then slowly dies down as Patchouli noticed her presence.

"Good morning. Is there something you want from me?" Patchouli asked.

"I've brought something for you to eat," Oriko replied.

"Thank you," Patchouli said. "You don't have to trouble yourself bringing me the food. You're the owner of this mansion."

"That's all right. At least I can have the sense of purpose of living by being useful to someone," Oriko replied. Patchouli stared at Oriko for quite some time as she undertood what Oriko meant.

"If it's something that can make you feel comfortable, I'll be glad to give you some advice or hear your thoughts at least," Patchouli said. Oriko went silent as she took a seat near Patchouli. The conversation between her and Patchouli seemed like an eternity although it was only for a short while. She guessed that was the most pleasant conversation that she had in such a long time.

...

"Hey Oriko, what's wrong with you?" Oriko suddenly snapped back into reality as she heard a voice. She adjusted her vision to focus at the person who was laying on her body and saw it was Kirika. For a moment she was still lost in her mind before she remembered that she was at the infirmary.

"It's nothing," Oriko replied.

"I don't believe there's nothing wrong," Kirika said. "You were smiling alone while I was talking. I didn't even mention anything funny."

"I'm sorry. It's just that I remembered something about Reimu and the others," Oriko said.

"You're thinking about someone else other than me?" Kirika asked in an unsatisfied tone. "They left you here and abandoned you. So you shouldn't care about them. I'm here with you so you need me and only me alone."

"They didn't abandoned us. They only wanted us to be safe and sound. We don't need to fight anymore," Oriko said.

"That's not fair. I wanted to kill that pink haired girl too," Kirika said.

"They want to save her, not kill her," Oriko said as she slowly patted Kirika's head. "The only task the two of us need to do right now is to recover our strength."

Kirika clearly showed she was unsatisfied with the suggestion since her heart was full of hatred towards Madoka, but she had no choice other than follow Oriko's descision. Oriko only curved a small smile while hoping that everyone could have a normal life after everything had ended.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Gain and Lost**

Three silhouettes slowly formed into figures that looked like teenage girls in a magical girl outfit as they walked slowly at the middle of the garden towards the mansion. One of the figures was equipped with two medium-sized hand size cannons on both of her arms. The girl had a long hair tied into three braids. She wore a gothic lolita's clothes with showgirl skirt, completely revealing her legs and her underwear beneath the pantyhose. Her soul gem shone beautifully in blue colour on an eye patch that she wore. Reimu and the others could feel superiority emitting from the girl.

"Looks like this is not a good thing, especially since all of them are showing their hostility," Signum said.

"Do you all know them?" Reimu asked as she turned to look at Mami, Homura and Kyoko.

"No, I don't," both Mami and Homura replied.

"She..." Kyoko trailed off as she narrowed her eyes. "It's her."

"Her? Which one is 'her'?" Vita asked.

"The one with the cannons is Sasha. She's one of the magical girls that I drove off from Kizamino City," Kyoko contined. "But what is she doing here?"

"I think she found out you're here," Marisa said.

"I'll go and tell them to leave," Kyoko said as she headed towards the door.

"I'll go with you," Nanoha offered.

"I'll be fine. Three magical girls are nothing to me if they want to start a fight," Kyoko curved out a grin on her face before she left the living room. She materialized her magical girl clothes as she walked out of the mansion and conjured her spear to prepare for any incoming attack from the magical girls.

"Oh Kyoko, it's you," the magical girl named Sasha said. "I've never thought you'll be here. I guess a greedy girl like you wants to get all the grief seeds only for yourself."

"What're you doing here, Sasha?" Kyoko asked. "I can see you've been ganging up with some girls."

"That's right. These are my companions, Matsuri and Tsukina," Sasha introduced the girls behind her. "I'm here to capture a girl named Madoka and kill her, along with her friends. This is for the our sake as magical girls."

"That includes you, missy," The girl named Matsuri who was equipped with a dual tonfa said.

"She's not here," Kyoko said. "How did you all know about Madoka?"

"You don't have to know about that since you're going to die," the third magical girl named Tsukina said. She aimed her rifle at Kyoko who was smirking wildly.

"You all seems aren't worry about other people seeing us," Kyoko said.

"We know that this place is protected by a barrier that prevents other people outside it to see what actually lies inside. That's why we greeted you all with a blast," Sasha said.

"It seems someone told you about the barrier, Madoka and about me and my friends, which means that person know about us... or should I say that thing," Kyoko said as she dashed towards the magical girls. She suddenly swung her spear into the air to deflect a bullet that came out of nowhere. "Darn it! Where did that shot came from!?"

"Surprised?" Sasha asked in a satisfied tone. "Our other companion is out there with her sniper locked on to you or anyone else who tries to escape from here."

...

"This is bad. We must help her," Mami said through a telepathic communication that was set up by Shamal.

"We do want to help her, but..." Marisa trailed off as she took a glance behind her. Five magical girls fully armed were pointing their respective weapon at Reimu and the others.

"I didn't expect they're going to ambush us while we're looking outside," Alice said.

"Moreover, we didn't noticed them appeared behind us," Fate said.

"Nanoha, can you use your binding spell at them?" Reimu asked.

"I need time to materialize my Raising Heart and aim my binding spell at them," Nanoha replied.

"Yeah, we can't materialize our device," Vita said.

"I'll distract them with my dolls," Alice said. Then she exchanged look with Mami who curved a nervous smile. "Are you ready?"

"I guess so," Mami said as she secretly took out a card from her sleeve.

"Don't worry. You've been practicing with me before. I'm sure you can do it. After all, it's just a flash spell," Alice said.

"All right," Mami said. "Everyone, all of you should close your eyes."

"Why?" Hayate asked.

"Things gonna be bright for a few second," Mami replied before she took a few deep breath. She then declared her spell card in a loud voice. "Spell Card: Flash Spark!"

Bright white light immediately enveloped the living room as the card that Mami held turned into a flashing orbs.

...

Sasha constantly shot several rounds at Kyoko while the other two surrounded her. Kyoko slowly had a hard time dealing with the girls since she had to deflect every bullet and other projectiles shot by Sasha, Tsukina and the other magical girl who was equipped with the sniper. Matsuri was the only one who engaged with her in a melee fight. Everytime she decided to close in to them, the shot from the sniper immediately stopped her in her track before Sasha and her fellow companions continued shooting and engaging with her in a close combat.

"What's wrong, Kyoko? I expect you are able to beat us all," Sasha mocked with a big smirk.

"It's a pity that you're only engaging with us in a melee combat," Matsuri said.

"Shut up!" Kyoko shouted as she swung hard her spear. Matsuri blocked Kyoko's spear with her tonfa before she leaped backward.

"Take this," Tsukina shouted as she shot several bullets at Kyoko. Seeing that Sasha also fired her cannon, Kyoko had to detach her spear to deflect all the bullets. Matsuri used the chance to dashed towards Kyoko from behind and hit her hard.

"Guh!" Kyoko endured the pain before one of the projectiles hit her, followed by the rest. Kyoko slowly got up on her feet and tried to regain her composure while staring at her wounds. That was the only time the she felt being a living coarpse was a good thing. She looked at Sasha and her companions who looked like they were not even breaking a sweat.

_Darn it... Why did I even want to get involve with Reimu and the others? I've got other things to do... Man, what's wrong with me? Why am I suddenly feel weak? Am I always this weak? No, I'm not weak... Something is missing_, Kyoko's thoughts lingered before Oriko's face came into her mind. Kyoko shook her head and tried to ignore her thoughts but images of Oriko kept appearing and all that she had said towards her. _Heh, so_ is _this my punishment for trying to kill Oriko before?_

{_It's just that I'm afraid that my clairvoyance came true at that time... I'm afraid that you'll be killed... Seeing you lying lifelessly on the floor in my clairvoyance made me feel weak... That's why I'm trying to save you..._}

_Save me, huh? Why would you want to save someone who was trying to kill you?_ Kyoko thought as she remembered what Oriko had just said to her before she left the Arthra. Then she suddenly remembered everything that Oriko had said or did to her everytime they encountered each other. _You even didn't fight back other than defending yourself everytime I fought you. You even wished that we can be friends. What a childish dream. But... You're wiling to sacrifice your life just to save me. That's right... That's the reason... Right now to me, you're my..._

Sasha and the others stopped advancing as they felt considerable amount to magical energy radiated from Kyoko the moment her body was shrouded by thin red aura. They felt like they were stopped by an invisible flame that surrounded Kyoko. Matsuri ignored the feeling and immediately conjured several blades around her before she threw the blades towards Kyoko.

"Rosso Phantasma!" The blades that Matsuri threw missed as Kyoko multiplied into dozen of herself the moment she shouted the magic skill's name. Every one of her decoys ran and surrounded Sasha and the rest in an instant.

"Let's retreat for now," Matsuri suggested.

"You're all not going anywhere," Kyoko said as she increased her decoys until Sasha and the rest were outnumbered. "I suggest the three of you to surrender and discuss things properly with us."

"We won't surrender especially to you," Sasha said as she conjured dozens large cannons around her, aiming at all direction. But she did not managed to open fire as she along with Matsuri and Tsukina were binded by a coloured chains. They tried to break free but failed.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Arf said.

"Don't come near! There's another magical girl with a sniper out there aiming at me!" Kyoko warned.

"Don't worry. I've already caught her," Sakuya who appeared out of nowhere with a magical girl said. The magical girl clearly showed fear on her face while looking at Sakuya as if she was about to cry, making Kyoko wondered what Sakuya had done to the poor girl.

"What took you all so long to help me!? And now you two took the best part," Kyoko was a little bit unsatisfied that she had to deal with Sasha and the rest all by herself.

"Mi'lady wants you to entertain her by watching you fought them. Since you've done well, mi'lady wanted me to capture this girl," Sakuya said while patting the girl that she caught. The girl's body stiffened and shrinked the moment Sakuya touched her as she was afraid of what would happen to her from that moment onwards.

"I thought you've said that you'll be able to handle them," Arf teased. She could see Kyoko was clearly irritated by her. "There's a little bit of problem inside the mansion earlier. That's why we couldn't assist you at all."

"It seems the magical girls that appeared inside the mansion are part of their group," Signum said as she walked outside the mansion, followed by Mami. Mami only exchanged look with Kyoko and her decoys before Kyoko sighed while scratching her head.

"What're you looking at?" Kyoko asked.

"Nothing. It's just that... your magic..." Mami trailed off as she could not believe her eyes.

"Yeah, my magic is back thanks to Oriko," Kyoko said while reverting into her normal clothes.

"So you're worried about Oriko, huh?"

"Don't be stupid. I'm not worry about her."

"You've really changed," Mami curved a smile seeing her old companion's attitude. "You even shout out your special attack's name."

"Y-you heard it!?" Kyoko's face started to become red.

"Everyone should be able to hear it earlier," Arf curved a big grin. Kyoko was embarrassed that all of them heard her shouting out the name of her magic skill.

"I-I just wanted to shout it once! Just this once!" Kyoko replied and tried to emphasize the word 'once', implying that she would not shout the skill name again. She immediately walked towards the mansion without looking at Sakuya, Mami, Arf and Signum. She could see several more magical girls were binded with chains the moment she stepped into the living room.

"Good work out there," Vita said.

"Are you kidding me!? I was dying out there trying to take them down!" Kyoko said in an annoyed tone.

"You did said you'll be able to handle them," Marisa said with a grin.

"That's what I've said earlier," Arf said. Marisa only let out a small laugh thinking that was a joke. Kyoko only glared at the two of them with an annoyed expression.

"We didn't managed to help you because these girls are quite strong. I assume one of them was using something similar to time magic. Not to mention that fighting in a small space is quite hard," Nanoha explained as she bowed slightly, trying to apologize to Kyoko. "It took us quite a while to bind them with our binding spell even after Mami used her magic."

"I can see that you're struggling in here," Kyoko said as she looked around and saw Zafira was repairing the heavily damaged living room.

"It's a good thing Mami and I was able to stop them once again," Alice said.

"You're saying as if you're the only one who was fighting," Marisa rebuked. "And what's with Mami's spell card!? You're copying my spell card's name."

"You're still arguing about that? I thought we've already settled on this earlier," Alice let out a heavy sigh. She then looked at Mami who was concerned about Marisa before she hugged her. "Look, you're scaring Mami."

"Sorry Mami, I'm not angry with you," Marisa curved a smile, trying to ease Mami's anxiety.

"I-it's okay," Mami replied in an embarrassed tone while looking at Alice and the others. "Alice, it's embarrassing. E-everyone's looking at us both."

"But you're always humming happily when I did like this at your home," Alice said as she tilted her head.

"I know, but..." Mami trailed off as she was embarrassed by Alice's statement. She noticed that Reimu and the rest were listening to their conversation carefully. Mami immediately looked down , trying to hide her full face blush.

"So what're we going to do with them now?" Reimu asked in a bored tone.

"We'll bring them to the Arthra for further interrogation," Fate replied. All of them stared at the magical girls who slowly showed anxiety and cowered in fear one by one before Hayate approached them with a smile.

"Are you all hungry? Maybe I can make something for you to eat. Don't worry, we won't hurt you. We just want to know the real reason you want to kill us. Maybe a small comfortable chat will do," Hayate said. Hayate's kindness made the girls felt calm in an instant, like they did not had a fight earlier nor they were enemies. The girls looked at each other before they nodded at the same time. Hayate then smiled as she turned around and left the living room, accompnied by Vita.

"Hayate sure is amazing. She even managed to win amd capture the enemy's heart," Reimu whispered to Signum.

"No one can beat Hayate's kindness," Signum whispered back with a smile.

...

"Ugh, why we always had a rough night!? My body is aching everywhere," Marisa grunted as she yawned heavily before she stretched her body. It was a rainy morning and all of them already had their breakfast. Marisa and Homura were walking in the hallway from the dining room towards the living room. Marisa felt that she had nothing to do since it was raining outside although she hardly do anything ever since they left Gensokyo, other than searching for witches.

"You sound like an old woman," Homura rebuked. Every now and then her 'cold' personality occasionally unintentionally blurted out that made her felt uncomfortable after she accidentally said such thing to Marisa.

"I don't want to hear that from you, Homurin. I don't slept well last night you know."

"Homurin!?" Homura widened her eyes with full of surprise to hear Marisa called her that.

"Yes, I'm calling you Homurin now because you're actually a cute girl," Marisa said with a smile. Homura suddenly blushed and instantly looked away.

"Don't bully Homura too much. She had already regret for what she had done," Shamal rebuked in her usual soft voice as she put her arms on Homura's shoulders.

"I'm not bullying her. I'm telling her the truth," Marisa said.

"T-thank you," Homura said in a very small voice, but could be heard by both Marisa and Shamal. Marisa curved another big smile and patted Homura's head. The three of them then saw Remilia, Sakuya, Nanoha and Signum walked along the hallway. "Miss Remilia, are you going now?"

"Yes, I need to get it done fast so I don't have to go back to the outside world after this," Remilia said with a smile.

"Aren't you afraid of water? It's raining hard outside you know," Marisa teased with her usual devilish smile.

"Who said that I'm afraid of water!? I just don't like my clothes getting wet," Remilia argued in an annoyed tone.

"We won't be long enough. But you all should start searching for Madoka without us," Signum said, ignoring both Marisa and Remilia.

"All right. Be careful," Shamal said. Signum only nodded before she walked towards Remilia who had already walked away with Sakuya and Nanoha.

"They're leaving huh?" Kyoko asked as she approached Marisa, Homura and Shamal with a popsicle in her mouth.

"If you can see that for yourself," Marisa replied.

"Are you going to leave? It that's so, I'll prepare some foods for you," Shamal said.

"I think I'll have to join you to save that brat from those Jewel Seeds," Kyoko replied after she munched her popsicle.

"Madoka is not a brat! She's a kind hearted girl!" Homura argued as she overheard the conversation.

"She is a brat for letting herself being controlled by the Seeds. Now we're the one who must help her."

"Oh, how rare of you to concern about someone," Alice said as she approached Kyoko with Mami.

"It's none of your business. I'm doing this because..." Kyoko trailed off as she did not want to voice out her reason. "... I don't even know why I'm doing this."

"You're just not being honest with yourself," Marisa said.

"She used to be a very sweet girl," Mami said with a smile.

"Shut up!" Kyoko rebuked and tried to change the conversation's topic before they heard Hayate's voice.

"Everyone, you all should come inside!" Hayate said in a high and panic tone as she got out of the living room.

"Hayate, what's wrong!?" Shamal asked in an immediate response after she heard Hayate's voice. Marisa and the others looked at each other before all of them rushed towards the living room.

...

Remilia and the others walked around an abandoned shrine at the top of a hill the moment they arrived. There was nothing interesting to see since the shrine's area was covered with bushes and tall trees.

"Is this the place?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes, it is. Though it looks ugly, I can see that it's a Hakurei Shrine," Remilia replied.

"I didn't know this shrine exist at Uminari City," Signum said.

"Even we ourselves didn't expect the Hakurei Shrine exist at the outside world," Sakuya said. "Reimu only sensed it a few days after we went outside of Gensokyo so she came here to check it out. She said that we can enter Gensokyo from here."

"But how are we going to pass through the Hakurei Barrier?" Signum asked.

"With this..." Sakuya trailed off as she took out a card. "Reimu crafted this special spell card for us to enter Gensokyo."

"Let's go," Remilia said. Sakuya nodded with a smile before she held up the spell card. The spell card flashed with an intense light, creating a ripple effects around them. Before they realized it, the dull scenery they saw earlier changed into a beautiful and clean environment. Even the rainy conditions suddenly turned into a clear day.

"Amazing! So this is Gensokyo?" Nanoha asked. Her eyes glittered as she saw the natural scenery, without any mordern buildings.

"Yes," Remilia replied with a smug.

"It's almost like uninhabitant planet but with more nostalgic and tranquillity feeling," Nanoha said.

"Not to mention the spiritual energy here is very overwhelming," Signum said while looking around.

"I guess a lot of powerful beings does live here," Nanoha said.

"Let's go," Remilia said as she started to lifted into the air. Sakuya, Nanoha and Signum followed along and they immediately flew at a high speed above the vast land. None of them saw anything that looked like a sea. Occasionally they saw some fairies were engaging in a spell card duel with a girl with icy wings on her back. Sakuya told Nanoha and Signum to ignore the fairies and the girl if they ever approached them. It did not took them long before they saw a large mansion in front of them.

"T-that's your mansion!? It's so big! Does your family live in there?" Nanoha was surprised to see the size of the mansion.

"I'm only living with my little sister Flan and she is the only sole blood-related family member I have left. Pache, Sakuya, Meiling, Koakuma and other maids also live there with us," Remilia replied.

"I'm sorry for asking," Nanoha said in a regret tone. She felt that her question might had hurt Remilia's feeling and thus angered her.

"It's not a big deal," Remilia glanced at Nanoha with a smile. As they got near the mansion, Remilia's eyes widened in surprise to see its gate as well as the front door was destroyed. Even the garden was filled with debris.

"Something had happened here," Signum said.

Remilia only nodded and immediately headed inside the mansion through the damaged door. Sakuya, Nanoha and Signum only followed her lead without saying anything. Soon they met a girl with long red hair, wearing a torned green chinese dress and a hat, sitting on the floor. She was currently being tended by another girl who also had a long red hair and wore a black vest and white shirt inside it. But the second girl had a pair of bat wings just like Remilia. Remilia slowly approached the girl and knelt in front of her.

"Meiling, what happened?" Remilia asked in a concerned tone.

"Mi'lady, I apologize for every damage on the mansion," Meiling said. "A pink-haired girl with several cubes came and demanded something called a Jewel Seed. She gave me a hard time because she's not really bounded with the spell card rules. But I've managed to chase her away."

"But she managed to push Meiling hard into the mansion during the fight. That's why the mansion was heavily damaged," Koakuma explained.

"What about Flan? Where is she right now?" Remilia asked.

"Mi'lady, mistress Flandre had gone missing," Sakuya said after she used her skill to surveyed around.

"So she pretended to run away, huh?" Remilia muttered in a serious tone.

"My apologies mi'lady. I didn't know she was targeting mistress Flandre," Meiling immediately bowed her head until it touched the floor. "If I knew the thing called the Jewel Seed is currently with mistress, I would've protect her till the last drop of my blood."

"It's all right. I don't blame you because I'm the one who kept it a secret from you," Remilia said as she patted Meiling's head with a smile. "I thank you for trying to protect the mansion with your fist. Now, get some rest until you're fully healed. You don't have to worry about the damages on the mansion."

"T-thank you, mi'lady," Meiling said with a smile.

"Um... miss Remilia..." Nanoha reluctantly called because she wanted to avoid the petite devil's anger.

"We need to catch up with that girl," Remilia said. The four of them immediately flew towards the damaged front door.

"How did she managed to enter Gensokyo?" Sakuya muttered to herself.

"She's probably used the same way like how we entered here," Remilia who heard Sakuya answered.

"Or perhaps... " Signum trailed off as she realized the possible explanation. "... She's using a dimensional transfer. The spell does allow its user to teleport to other dimensions."

"That's right," a voice said. Remilia and the others stopped and saw Yukari popped out her head from a gap that she created.

"M-miss Yukari, are you all right?" Nanoha asked. She noticed that Yukari was covered with bruises and bandages. "You're covered in bandages."

"Miss Madoka had been trying to enter here through the Hakurei Shrine at the outside world. So that's why I've fought with her," Yukari replied with a smile while massaging her shoulder. "But I was defeated. I must've getting old."

"You didn't use your true strength. That's why you lost," Remilia said in an unsatisfied tone.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. We must bound to the spell card rules because we are Gensokyo's inhabitants. You know what'll happen if we suddenly break the rules," Yukari replied. Her answer had made Remilia became more annoyed. Remilia and the others immediately left Yukari before Nanoha spoke again.

"Miss Remilia, I'm going to perform a search to find Madoka," Nanoha said. Remilia stopped and turned around to look at Nanoha, waiting for Nanoha to cast her spell. "Raising Heart, use wide area search to pinpoint the Jewel Seeds and Kaname Madoka."

Magic circle formed inder Nanoha's feet as Raising Heart blinked for several times before it finally spoke.

[_Master, the Jewel Seeds along with Kaname Madoka is located approximately 10 kilometres north-west._]

"So she's already at the shrine, huh," Sakuya said. Raising Heart spoke once again before Sakuya could do anything.

[_Master, the Jewel Seeds and Kaname Madoka had disappeared from the area._]

"Thank you, Raising Heart," Nanoha said. Then she turned to look at everyone. "She must've already teleported to the outside world."

The four of them increased their flight speed to cut short their travelling time. As soon as they arrived at the shrine Sakuya wanted to pull out the special spell card, but Signum suddenly spoke to her.

"I'll use my magic to get us to the outside world," Signum said. All of them gathered around Signum who raised up her device. "Dimensional Transfer! Location: Hakurei Shrine at the outside world!"

Magic circle formed below the four of them before they were transferred to the old shrine at the outside world. Nanoha immediately performed wide area search once again without waiting for Remilia to say a word. She could feel that Remilia was concerned about her sister although she did not showed it on her face.

"I've found her! She's heading towards the sea!" Nanoha said.

All of them wasted no time and immediately flew towards the location where Raising Heart had told them. In less than fifteen minutes, they saw Madoka was floating still on the middle of the sea with a magic circle formed under her feet despite the rainy condition at the moment. Eight cubes pulsed with slow blinking light, as if it were alive. Nanoha and Signum assumed that she was performing a search to locate the Jewel Seeds. Nanoha immediately casted her bind spell the moment she reached its effective range. Madoka stopped performing her search and immediately glared at Remilia and the others.

"Man, you all sure are a persistent pest. I thought I told you not to disturb me," Madoka said with a sigh.

"Miss Madoka, we're here to retrieve the Jewel Seeds," Fate said.

"Too bad! I won't give it to you!" Madoka let out a giggle. Raising Heart blinked as it spoke to tell an information to Nanoha.

[_Master, eight Jewel Seeds are detected around the girl's body_]

"That isn't good. She already have eight of it," Signum said through telepathic communication.

"Would you be nice and give us the Jewel Seeds?" Sakuya asked.

"Are you stupid? There's no way I'm willing to give it to you," Madoka sticked out her tongue.

"Forget about the Jewel Seeds!" Remilia said in an frustrated tone as she glared at Madoka. "Where's Flan?"

"Flan?" Madoka tilted her head before she knew about the person Remilia just asked. "Oh, you mean the girl with something that look like some crystals on her wings? She's very tasty, you know."

"What did you do to her!?" Remilia asked with a menacing expression while pointing her spear that she conjured at Madoka's chest.

"So are we going to do something called a spell card battle just like your friends?" Madoka smirked.

"I don't care about that! I'm going to kill you right here and right now!" Remilia growled in fury.

"Are you sure you want to kill me? You'll regret for the rest of your life if you do that," Madoka said in a teasing tone. Suddenly one of Madoka's cube hit hard on Remilia's stomach, just like it hit Kyoko the night before. Remilia did not notice the cube since she was about to ask Madoka another question before it was too late for her to defend herself. Sakuya immediately used her ability to take Remilia away from Madoka.

"Mi'lady, are you alright?" Sakuya asked after she undid her ability.

"Don't mind about me. Capture that brat," Remilia said in a pissed tone. She was clearly getting impatient with Madoka.

"I would like to prefer we did this the easy way. But since you're all are the one who were trying to disturb me, I guess I'll have to eliminate you all," Madoka replied.

"You can't escape from us because you're binded by the chain bind spell," Signum said.

"Unless if I use brute force, right?" Madoka asked before she used her strength to break free from the chain. But she did not managed to do anything since Sakuya was already behind her with a knife pointed at her. Madoka turned her head slightly and glanced at Sakuya's calm face.

"Please be a good girl and come with us," Sakuya said.

"Be a good girl? Ha! You all must be stupid to think that I want that," Madoka said after she let out a loud creepy laugh, enough to make any ordinary people shiver.

"You're really an arrogant little girl. Don't try to pretend you're tough or you'll hurt yourself," Remilia said.

"I'm not pretending because I am strong," Madoka clearly showed a big grin before a strong whirlwind enveloped around her, throwing everyone off guard. Remilia and the rest were put into a considerable amount of distance as they watched the whirlwind slowly died out. They saw the cubes circled rapidly around Madoka. "As I said earlier, I'm certain that you'll regret if you try to kill me."

"I didn't expect she have that kind of magic," Sakuya said.

"What do you mean?" Nanoha asked.

"I believe that magic is the same as one of Gensokyo's residents' spell card," Sakuya explained. "But even so... How is it possible?"

"Maybe she learned it from the resident," Signum said. Madoka curved a big smirk while looking at Sakuya and the others surprised face. She did not noticed Remilia was already in beside her.

"You seem you don't understand what I meant earlier," Madoka said.

"Shut up! You've killed Flan! I shall kill you!" Remilia said in a fury tone. She was about to thrust her spear when she suddenly heard Flandre's voice inside her head, just like when Nanoha and her friends used their telepathic communication. Remilia looked around her in a confused expression on her face.

"Sis... help... me..." Flandre called.

"Flan!? Where are you!?" Remilia shouted. She and the others noticed Madoka put her hands on her head, struggling like she was having a headache.

"Darn it! Why did you have to regain your subconscious at a time like this!?" Madoka shouted.

"What happened to her?" Sakuya asked.

"I'm not really sure, but..." Nanoha trailed off before she looked at Remilia. "Miss Remilia, you should call out to your little sister again.

"Flan, where are you?" Remilia repeated her question.

"Sis... I... don't know... it's too... dark..." Flandre's faint voice replied.

"It seems miss Madoka had absorbed your little sister," Signum said.

"What!?" Remilia asked in a surprised tone. She immediately looked at Madoka who was still trying to endure her pain. She gritted her teeth while trying to hold off her anger. She seemed to realize what Madoka had meant by regret.

"Is there any way to save mistress Flandre?" Sakuya asked.

"I don't know if defeating miss Madoka will help separating miss Flandre from her," Signum said.

"That's not true right? That brat is only bluffing!" Remilia who started to get confused said. Nanoha could see Remilia was getting anxious about her little sister's safety after she heard Signum. Remilia dashed towards Madoka and tried to land a heavy blow, but once again she stopped before she could hit her the moment she heard Flandre's voice again.

"Sis... help... me... It's… too… dark… Sis…" Flandre called out.

"S-stop it! Stop using Flan's voice!" Remilia backed away from Madoka. She was getting more confused with the situation that had made her indecisive whether to attack Madoka or not.

"Chain bind!" Nanoha summoned the chain bind this time to fully restrict Madoka's movement. "We'll need to take miss Madoka to the Arthra so that we can save miss Flandre."

"Damn it! You're all are such a pain!" Madoka shouted. It was clear to everyone that she was getting angry by Nanoha's action. A floating screen appeared in front of her, showing a loading bar that escalated from zero to ninety percent. The moment it reached a hundred percent, Octavia along with two other witches suddenly appeared behind Madoka. Without a warning, Octavia summoned dozens of wooden wheels that instantly attacked Remilia and the others. While the other two quickly surrounded them and were ready to launch their attack.

"Isn't that Sayaka!? How can it be!? Isn't she doing well at the Arthra!?" Nanoha remembered the video that all of them watched at the Arthra before.

"There's no point thinking about it. We need to defend ourselves," Sakuya said as she took out her spell card. Countless knives appeared and stabbed towards the two witches the moment Sakuya declared her spell card. "Spell Card: Private Square!"

"Accel Shooter! Shoot!" Nanoha conjured several orb projectiles around the four of them and shot it at the wheels that headed towards them. It took her quite a time to fully destroy the wheels. "It seems these wheels are enhanced with lots of magical energy.

"Levantine, snake form!" Signum commanded her device. Levantine ejected a cartridge before it detached its blade into multiple sections. She took a chance that she found in the midst of the witches' assault to charge towards Madoka and tried to knock her down. But Remilia blocked Signum's attack before it can hit Madoka. "What're you doing!?"

"I..." Remilia tried to convey her thoughts into words but failed. She was confused at that time that she did not notice Madoka was swinging her hand, casting a thin mana blade. The attack did not hit her since Nanoha barely managed to block it with her shield.

"Miss Remilia, are you all right?" Nanoha asked. Remilia speechlessly looked at Nanoha who was breathing heavily after trying to sustain her shield against the blade.

"Mi'lady! Are you hurt anywhere?" Sakuya asked in a slightly panic tone while examined Remilia's body. However Remilia did not respond to any of them.

"This is bad! She's getting away!" Signum said as she saw a magic circle formed under Madoka's feet. She had to deal with the two witches that kept chasing her to wherever she headed. Both Sakuya and Nanoha were unsure of what the two of them should do. They could not attack Madoka to avoid Remilia's wrath.

Nanoha finally decided to cast another binding spell on Madoka. But the cubes around Madoka immediately broke the bind as soon as the spell was on effect. It did not took a long time before Madoka completely disappeared from their sight.

Nanoha had to activate a barrier on Remilia, Sakuya and her to defend themselves from Octavia's sword that was swung towards them. Before Octavia managed to raise its hand to swing its sword, Sakuya immediately approached Octavia and declared her spell card.

"Spell Card: Soul Sculpture!" Sakuya conjured two knives on both of her hands and repeatedly slashed Octavia's face at a high speed. Octavia let out a sharp screech, making everyone covered their ears and closed their eyes. As soon as the screech dies down, they could see Madoka was nowhere to be seen.

"She escaped," Nanoha said.

"There's nothing that we can do about her for now. Let's focus on these witches that she left for us," Signum said while engaging with the two witches. "Nanoha, help me bind these witches."

"Oka-" Nanoha did not managed to do anything as dozens of projectiles in a form of cutlasses suddenly appeared and stabbed the three witches. Each witch let out a painful cry while conjuring their minions to remove the projectiles from their body. Nanoha was surprised by the sudden attack although not even one projectiles harm her nor Remilia, Sakuya and Signum. "W-where did the attack came from!?"

"It seems your friends have arrived," Sakuya said while looking above. All of the saw two approaching figures until it stopped a few feet above them.

"Chrono... and Sayaka!?" Nanoha was surprised to see Sayaka in her usual magical outfit, although the cutlass that she held on her hand was clearly a magical device equipped with a cartridge system. The smile on Sayaka's face was brighter and calmer than what they used to see.

"I can see you've become a mage," Signum said as she examined Sayaka.

"Well, yeah. I have to help snap Madoka back to her senses," Sayaka said. She then noticed Remilia who was usually grinning and smirking was now shivering and embracing herself in the rain. She slowly floated towards her and asked, "Miss Remilia, are you all right? Are you hurt?"

There was no response from Remilia. Sayaka looked at Sakuya who was shaking her head lightly with a smile. She immediately understood that something that had gone wrong just before she arrived.

"Sayaka, it's time to test your device for the final adjustment," Chrono said.

"Okay," Sayaka said with a smile and held up her device in front of her. "Silver Ice, are your ready?"

[_I'm ready, mistress_]

Sayaka's device, Silver Ice, ejected two cartridges before a mid-childan magic circle appeared below her. She instantly conjured dozens blades out of rainwater and shot it towards the witches and its minions.

"I'm not done yet. Silver Ice, second form: Shuriken," Sayaka commanded. Silver Ice ejected several more cartridges before it slowly changed its form into a large sized shuriken, matching perfectly with Sayaka's outfit that also changed into something similar to a ninja's clothes. It spun at a high speed as Sayaka held it above her. The moment she threw her weapon, it accelerated towards Octavia and continuously slashed through every part of its body. Sayaka looked at Remilia and the others while remotely controlling her weapon. "I do really need your help in taking down the other two. I'm still haven't fully master my device at the moment."

"Raising Heart, load cartridge! Divine Buster!" Nanoha who was a little bit awed by Sayaka's performance immediately commanded and aimed her device at one of the witches. Raising Heart ejected several cartridge before it gathred a pink spherical mana on its tip. Nanoha's magic slowly weakened the witch and its minions.

"Explosion!" Signum shouted out her magic skill as her Laventine was enshrouded with a flame. She accended high above the other witch before she dove towards it at a high speed. Loud explosion could be heard as she inflicted a direct hit on the witch.

"Spell Card:..." Sakuya declared her spell card and conjured countless knives, as if it was infinite. The knives stabbed the three witches along with its minions. All of the witches and minions let out their final cry before all of them slowly shattered into the thin air.

"You've done well, Sayaka. I think there'll be no problem after we've done with the final tune up," Chrono said after he finished spectated Sayaka's performance.

"Ah... Um... Yeah... It's all thanks to you, Chrono," Sayaka said while twirling her wet hair. She notived that Signum was looking at her with a small smile. "W-what!?"

"Nothing. I just think that you two are getting along well," Signum replied.

"That's normal since I was assigned by Admiral Lindy to help her," Chrono said.

"T-that's right," Sayaka said in a slightly disappointed tone. But she did managed to hide it from everyone.

"I think this is not the best place for us to have a pleasant conversation," Sakuya interrupted while she wrapped Remilia around her arms. Sayaka and Chrono looked at Remilia with full of questions in their mind. But they decided to ask everything that had happened after they arrived at the mansion.

...

The living room was void of voices, leaving only the sound of clock ticking. The television that was on a while ago had already been turned off after Reimu and the rest finished watching the news. Neither one of them let out a word until they heard a knock at the front door.

"I'll get the door," Shamal spoke. She stood up and immediately headed towards the door and opened it. She saw Nanoha and the others stood in front of her with their drenched clothes.

"We're back," Nanoha said.

"Oh my, you're all wet. Come inside quickly," Shamal said and immediately widened the door.

"Thank you," Chrono said. Shamal only nodded slightly as she let Nanoha and the othes inside. She immediately noticed that Remilia's expression was lifeless, unlike when she saw her in the morning. But she did not ask any question until she watched both Remilia and Sakuya went upstairs.

"Is... there something wrong with miss Remilia?" Shamal asked.

"Miss Madoka had absorbed her little sister," Nanoha replied before she walked towards the stairs. "I'll head upstairs and try to cheer her up."

"I think it's best to give her time to be alone," Chrono suggested.

"But I'm sure she needs someone to calm her down at a time like this," Nanoha said with a small smile.

"I'll come too," Sayaka volunteered.

"First things first, you two need to change your clothes first," Chrono suggested.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Sayaka said and let out a small laugh.

...

Both Nanoha and Sayka immediately went upstairs after they changed their clothes and went towards Remilia's room. Sakuya opened the door as soon as they knocked it.

"Oh, Nanoha and Sayaka. Is there something wrong?" Sakuya asked.

"Can we meet miss Remilia for a moment?" Nanoha asked

"I'm sorry, but I don't think this is the best time for both of you to talk to her," Sakuya replied.

"Please," Nanoha pleaded. Sakuya for a second time tried to reject their request, but she finally decided to let them in the moment she saw Nanoha's sincere and determined eyes. She hoped that they will not do anything that will make Remilia goes berserk.

As Nanoha and Sayaka went inside they could see Remilia was sitting on a large sofa with her back facing towards them while her face was facing towards the large window, as if it was like she was watching the rainfall. They approached her before they stopped just a few feet from her chair.

"Miss Remilia, how are you feeling?" Sayaka asked. But there was not response from Remilia. Sayaka and Nanoha looked at each other for a few seconds. "Miss Remilia, I would like to apologize and seek forgiveness from you on Madoka's behalf. I just knew that she had done something terrible to your little sister. But I..."

"I'll... kill... her..." Remilia finally spoke. Her voice was shaking that made both Nanoha and Sayaka felt that she was filled with anger. "I really wanted to rip her body apart so bad. But I couldn't bring myself to do it after I heard Flan's voice although I believe that she's already dead by that brat."

"She's still alive," Nanoha tried to convince Remilia.

"But all of us couldn't prove that Flan is still alive. I feel like that brat used Flan's voice to confuse me," Remilia who was confused by her own distorted thoughts argued.

"Miss Madoka had absorbed her along with the Jewel Seed. But I believe that she's still alive because there's a similar incident happened not long ago. So please don't kill miss Madoka. She was being possessed by the seeds," Nanoha explained.

"I also beg you miss Remilia. I'll take responsibility of what had happened to your little sister. I promise you that I'll help you bring her back," Sayaka said.

"What if you all fail?" Remilia asked. Both Nanoha and Sayaka felt that Remilia was trying to threaten them.

"Then take my life instead and spare everyone including Madoka. But still I promise you that I'll try my hardest to bring back your little sister," Sayaka said in a convincing tone. The room once again fall into silence as both Nanoha and Sayaka waited for Remilia to say something.

"Both of you come here and stand in front of me," Remilia finally spoke once again. The moment Nanoha and Sakuya stopped in front of Remilia, their eyes widened in surprise to see her expression. But before they could say anything, Remilia immediately pulled them towards her and hugged them. They decided to keep silent while listening to small sobs that echoed inside the room, synchronize alongside with the sound of the heavy rain outside the mansion. That was the first time they saw something that had immediately changed their perception of Remilia.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Our Decision**

Nanoha and Sayaka could hear voices coming from the living room as both of them went downstairs. While they have yet to hear what Reimu and the others were debating, they could feel it was so intense that made them wondered what it was all about.

"Wow, they sure are arguing a lot," Sayaka said while fanning herself with her hand, as if she could feel the heat from the arguments.

"I can feel that it's not an interesting debate," Nanoha said with an uneasy smile.

"Well, I guess we have to prepare ourselves with their unpleasant talk."

"I guess you're right," Nanoha and Sayaka smiled at each other before Nanoha twisted the door knob and opened the door. They immediately sat down on an empty sofa available and watched the heated argument in front of their eyes.

...

"I won't allow you to do that!" Homura argued in an unsatisfied tone.

"Can you give us one reasonable solution then?" Reimu asked. Homura bit her lips as she could not think of anything that could solve the problem. "If you can't suggest anything, then I advise you to keep quiet."

"Hey Reimu, don't be too hard on her. You know she had been through lots of hard times," Marisa said.

"I don't think arguing will get us anywhere," Alice said.

"It's not like I want to argue with her," Reimu said while pointing her thumb at Homura. Then she noticed at Hayate and her family looked like they had something to say and let out a sigh. "Don't tell me you're against my suggestion too?"

"Well... I do think that it's not a good idea," Shamal replied.

"Same here," Vita said. "I disagree with your method of stopping Madoka because we know there'll be another way to stop her as well as help her back to normal."

"Reimu, we're not saying that your method of solving the problem regarding miss Madoka is totally wrong but we all don't want to regret for everything that we're going to do for the rest of our life," Hayate tried to explain so that Reimu would not misunderstand them. Reimu could see sadness invoked from Hayate's eyes as she touched her magic device, as if she had been through a lot of painful past despite she always had a bright smile on her face. Reimu took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly to reduce her tension.

"What is this argument all about?" Nanoha finally asked Mami who was sitting near her.

"Reimu suddenly said that she will seal Madoka away along with the Jewel Seeds," Mami's answer surprised both Nanoha and Sayaka.

"Reimu, please give us time to save Madoka and Remilia's little sister," Sayaka immediately said. She could see everyone was looking at her with a puzzled look. "Huh? Did I just said something weird?"

"No, I think all of us just noticed that you didn't address miss Remilia with 'miss' like you usually did," Chrono said.

"Well, something just happened earlier. Right, Nanoha?" Sayaka said with a smile while looking at Nanoha.

"Huh? Ah, yup... T-that's right," Nanoha was a little bit surprised that she stuttered as she replied to Sayaka. "Anyway, the two of us already promised mi... Remilia to bring back her little sister as well as save miss Madoka."

"So, what should we do?" Kyoko asked as she looked at Reimu.

"Why are you asking me again after you all disagree with my idea?" Reimu asked back.

"I want to save Madoka," Homura said in a determined tone.

"Me too. Madoka isn't at fault that made her deserve to be sealed away," Mami said.

"So you think she's still innocent after she killed her own family?" Reimu argue. The statement immediately made Nanoha gasped in surprise.

"Reimu, what do you mean by that!?" Nanoha looked at Reimu and everyone else before she set her eyes at Hayate who exchanged look with her.

"You two haven't heard regarding that matter right?" Hayate asked before she continued. "Miss Madoka..."

"She had killed her family. Remember that you saw there's a pool of blood when you and the others met her at her house?" Sayaka interrupted in a calm voice while looking at Nanoha. That was the first time that everyone except Chrono noticed changes in the way Sayaka talk; they could feel Sayaka started to become more mature and was able to control her emotions. Nanoha only nodded in response to Sayaka's question. "Admiral Lindy had told me details of it last night. One thing for sure, We believe there's something strange about the incident after last night."

"Something strange?" Alice asked.

"Yes. Everything around Madoka's family were burnt into ashes," Sayaka said.

"So?" Marisa asked.

"What I mean is that Madoka's family's bodies were found inside the living room but none of them were affected by something that burnt the whole house," Sayaka tried to explain.

"How did you know about that? The news didn't even mentioned something about it," Kyoko asked.

"I remember that the house was perfectly fine when we arrived there last night," Alice said.

"She sneaked into the house last night using her newly learnt magic and her magic device the moment Admiral Lindy told her about what had happened to miss Madoka and her family," Chrono replied instead of Sayaka while staring at her. Sayaka only let out a small silly laugh while scratching the back of her head. "Regarding the matter about the burning inside miss Madoka's house, I assume that she came back to destroy any evidence that she killed her family so that people won't suspect her if she decide to appear around as someone who survived from that incident."

"But why did Madoka saved her family's coarpses after she killed them while she destroyed everything around them? It makes no sense," Mami said.

"That's why I want to find out. I want to ask Madoka about the reason she killed her own family the next time we meet her," Sayaka said before she stared at Homura. "Since you knew all about us in the past timeline, why didn't you tell us about what will happen to Madoka and her family before this? We could've done something to prevent it."

"Something like this didn't happen in the past timeline," Homura replied.

"So you're trying to say that all of these happened due to us interferring your plan in this timeline?" Reimu asked, referring 'us' to herself, Nanoha and the others.

"No," Homura's tears started to swell up and let out a whimper. She felt that everyone was trying to blame her for everything that had occured. Marisa who was sitting beside Homura immediately hugged and softly patted her head. While Hayate slowly approached Homura and touched her hands.

"No one's blaming you for everything that had been done. You only did what you think was right," Hayate said before she looked at the others. "Right, everyone?"

"Well, I do feel that she had done something wrong," Sayaka said before she glanced at Chrono and smiled. "But... without her silly mistake, none of us will encounter each other."

"Although it does bring a big mess this time," Chrono said, trying to make it as a joke. But his 'serious' expression failed to convince everyone to think him of that way.

"I do agree with Sayaka. Without everyone's help, I would've been dead by now," Mami said.

"Yeah, me too," Kyoko said.

"I believe that all of this wouldn't occur if we didn't get involve in all of these mess," Alice said.

"That true, but we couldn't just sit and watch everything from faraway," Shamal said.

"The one who should be blamed is Reimu," Vita said while looking at Reimu.

"Huh!? Why am I the one to be blamed!? I'm not the one who started these incidents!" Reimu argued.

"Yeah, but Homura was about to cry because you're being harsh on her."

"I'm not being harsh to her. I talk to her like I always do."

"Now Vita mentioned it, I do remember that you suddenly said that you decided to seal Madoka or something like that without asking all of us," Kyoko said with a grin as she played along with the situation.

"Wait! Why are you two changing the topic!?" Reimu asked. "You would've think the same thing in this situation."

"I believe there are other options that we can think of and use it to prevent more tragic events," Signum said.

"Yes, I agree. Only a foolish person will think only of eliminating someone who is innocent," Alice said with a sneer.

"Gah! Not you too, Alice! Aren't you suppose to be on Gensokyo's side?" Reimu asked in an annoyed tone.

"I'm on the weak side, unlike the greater foolish like you who always tend to use your full strength," Alice replied before she whispered into Mami's ear. "You should tease her. It's fun to see her getting frustrated."

"Eh? But..." Mami looked at Reimu for a moment just to see her annoyed expression.

"Ahaha, looks like you've lost in this argument this time," Marisa said with a laugh.

"Ugh, fine then! I'll listen to everyone's 'brilliant' ideas," Reimu said in a grumpy tone while crossing her arms in front of her chest. Everyone who teased her showed a sense of glory in their face, especially Kyoko. Reimu muttered in an unsatisfied tone "Why am I the one at fault? It's not I want to solve these incidents. Just you wait, Yukari. You're the one who caused this mess and forced me to receive bad reputations."

"We've met miss Yukari at Gensokyo this morning and she was covered in bandages after she was defeated by miss Madoka," Nanoha said as she heard Reimu.

"Hmph! that's not enough for her to learn her lesson," Reimu said.

"Since it seems that we've all agree to save miss Madoka, then I should ask for other suggestions on how are we going to save her," Chrono said as he don't want to involve with Reimu's furiousness.

"I think we can try some methods that we've used during the Book of Darkness incident," Nanoha suggested.

"You mean hit and knock out miss Madoka to separate her from the Jewel Seeds?" Hayate asked.

"Yup. Although it'll be hard to do that to her."

"I can't allow you to do that either," Homura protested.

"Homurin, you're being a little bit selfish here," Marisa said. Homura immediately looked down after Marisa rebuked her. She knew that she should let Reimu and the others handle the current situation, but she could not bear to witness her dearest friend being injured and knocked by them. Marisa patted Homura's head and curved a smile. "You don't have to worry about Madoka. I bet Nanoha wouldn't suggest such thing if she's unsure of the outcome. Right, Nanoha?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure whether we'll be able to save miss Madoka without injuring her with the method that I've suggested," Nanoha replied in a hesitated tone.

"But we believe that miss Madoka is protected with a barrier jacket, so she won't be killed as long as we don't damage her barrier jacket too much," Hayate explained.

"But is there any purpose of trying to hit and knock her down?" Mami asked.

"The method may be able to disconnect and separate miss Madoka from the Jewel Seeds," Shamal replied.

"Although that is only an assumption," a voice said. Everyone looked at the direction where the voice came from and saw a young boy with a short brown hair came in along with Patchouli, Fate and Arf.

"We're back," Fate said.

"Welcome back," Alice said.

"So how're they? Did they get some punishment for what they had done?" Kyoko asked

"Admiral Lindy is arranging a special discussion with them at the moment before she decide to take further action," Fate replied.

"But most of the poor girls were crying and afraid of what will happen to them," Arf said.

"Serves them right," Kyoko said.

"So who's the new face there?" Marisa asked.

"He's our friend," Nanoha replied with a smile.

"Nice to meet you all. I've been hearing a lot about you all. I'm Yuuno Scyra, an archeologist and currently working at the Infinite Library," Yuuno replied as he looked at Reimu and the others that he had not met before.

"So what do you mean by what you've just said?" Chrono asked.

"Unlike Hayate during the last incident, since miss Madoka is in a state of unconscious I don't think we'll be able to separate her by using bombardment type of magic. I'm afraid we'll hurt her more that we can imagine," Yuuno explained.

"Then that method is useless," Kyoko said while putting her arms behind her head.

"How about the method that we've used during the previous Jewel Seeds incident?" Fate asked.

"I'm not sure whether it'll work out fine this time because miss Madoka will be likely to protect the Jewel Seeds," Yuuno replied.

"Not to mention that her cubes will defend her from any harm which makes it impossible for us to be able to use binding magic on her. We couldn't even predict her magic since she seem to posess different types of magic," Signum said.

"I do remember she used some kind of lightning magic last night," Kyoko said.

"Yeah, that's right," Marisa said.

"She also had a magic that is similar to mine. It's like she possess every magic that we have," Shamal said.

"She was also be able to summon witches that she may had killed up till today," Chrono said.

"Great, one thing after another," Marisa said with a big sigh. "How many Jewel Seeds she had right now again?"

"Right now she had eight Jewel Seeds that matched the number of the cubes she had," Nanoha said. "But the strange thing about the cubes is that all of it didn't stray far away from miss Madoka when we were enganging with her earlier."

"Hmm... Eight cubes that are equal to the numbers of the Jewel Seeds, huh?" Marisa muttered while putting her hand under her chin. "That means that she'll likely to have a ninth cube once she obtain the final Jewel Seed."

"Yes, I agree with that. That's why we need to stop her as soon as possible. I have a bad feeling about the moment she obtain the ninth one," Shamal said.

"I think we could try every methods that we can think of," Fate said.

"It's better to try it rather than watching Madoka roaming around and do something bad," Sayaka said.

"But what if we fail?" Alice asked.

"Well..." Sayaka scratched her head. "Move on to plan B?"

"And what is our plan B?" Alice continued to ask. She could see everyone tried to think of any other way to save Madoka before she set her eyes on Reimu. "You being awfully quiet."

"And why should I give any suggestion?" Reimu asked in an annoyed tone.

"But you seem to be having a long thought," Mami said. "Maybe you could share with us about what other things that you had in mind."

"I won't suggest anything anymore if you all rejected my thoughts for the second time," Reimu said with a big sigh. Then she looked at Yuuno. "Can we use anything to separate Madoka from the Jewel Seeds by force other than knocking her down?"

"Theoretically we can, using the method that Fate just said," Yuuno replied. "But..."

"Then here's what I have in mind," Reimu interrupted. "I will craft a new spell card that can do the trick. That way we wouldn't have to hurt her badly even if we have to."

"So you do have an idea that doesn't involve using your painful spell card," Marisa joked.

"Shut up Marisa," Reimu said annoyingly.

"So how will the new spell card you want to create work?" Sayaka asked.

"Basically the card will conjure an orb which we'll use it towards Madoka. As soon as it hits her, the Jewel Seeds separate itself from her. Of course, we need to keep away the cubes from her," Reimu kept the explaination short and simple but easy to understand.

"An orb? You mean it'll won't conjure countless projectiles like you always do?" Vita asked.

"No, because this is to prevent someone or something becomes disarray if it gets hit by the projectiles. So I'll have to limit it to an orb per card which will be used in a close range battle. That way we can focus on hitting Madoka with it and immediately snatch away the Jewel Seeds once we manage to separate it from her," Reimu replied.

"Ah, you're going to apply your spell card's mechanism," Patchouli said.

"Yeah," Reimu said.

"But we don't know whether it'll work or not," Yuuno said.

"So do you have any idea then?" Reimu glared at Yuuno. "Aside from whatever method that Fate just mentioned, I think it's better to have a second backup method. So? Do you all agree? Homura?"

"M-me?" Homura immediately startled as Reimu stared at her. "I... don't have any objection."

"Good girl," Marisa patted Homura's head for the third time. Homura's face became red as she felt like she was being treated like a small girl. Marisa only grinned while looking at Homura's embarrassed face.

"Good," Reimu said as she immediately stood up. "I'll begin crafting the spell card now for each one of us."

"Please don't strain yourself too much," Hayate said. Reimu only curved a smile while looking at Hayate and nodded before she left the living room. The room fell silent as everyone did not start any other conversation. Only the sound of the rainfall that hit the roof and the world outside the mansion could be heard, much to calm them down in the tense situation they currently had. The silence went on for almost a minute before Patchouli let out a few small cough to gain everyone's attention.

"I've already finished my experiments on the grief seeds," Patchouli spoke.

"So is there anything unusual that you've found?" Signum asked.

"Rather than unusual, I've managed to extract the magical girls' souls that were trapped inside it," Patchouli replied. "Although it was a quite tiring some process."

"Does that mean they're alive after we've killed them?" Kyoko asked.

"Yes, although they don't have their physical bodies anymore."

"Which is why the TSAB is trying to collect some materials for miss Patchouli to use for regenerating new bodies for them," Yuuno said.

"But isn't that kinda illegal for you to do that?" Marisa asked.

"Since the TSAB agreed to give them a new life after they heard everything about this incident, I think there'll be no problem. They don't want anymore trouble from the world where Kyuubey came from," Yuuno replied.

"Speaking of Kyuubey, we need to take care of him," Kyoko said while clenching both her hands. "I believe he's the one who sent all of those magical girls to kill us last night."

"Currently the TSAB is trying to search for Kyuubey's origin, so you don't have to worry about that," Chrono said. "At the same time, we're trying to search and gather all of the magical girls that we can find."

"Wouldn't that be hard?" Marisa asked.

"No, since the soul gem have the same signature and wavelength as the grief seeds. I've even asked Oriko to let us examine her soul gem before this," Chrono replied.

"Ah, I see."

"Wait. Does that mean we can also be saved?" Mami asked hastily. Her heart beat fast as she waited for an answer that she hoped for coming out from Patchouli's mouth.

"I haven't conduct this experiment to a living magical girls. But I can guarantee that this method will work," Patchouli replied in a calm tone.

"We... can... be saved," Mami covered her mouth as her tears started to swell. Alice smiled and hugged Mami without saying anything. She only let Mami cried with full of happiness.

"Isn't that a great news, right Mami?" Sayaka asked with a smile. Mami only nodded while she wiped out her tears with a handkerchief that Alice just gave her.

"But we're not going to perform the magic you've mentioned right now, right Patchouli?" Kyoko asked.

"That depends on your descision," Patchouli replied.

"I'll wait until we manage to save Madoka," Mami said. "I'm the one who is responsible for what had happened to her. If I didn't show her everything about magical girls, then all of these wouldn't happened."

"You're not the one to blame," Sayaka said, trying to enlightened Mami's heart. "I was the one at fault. Madoka became the person she is right now was because I said cruel things to her."

"If only I managed to save Madoka in the past timeline, all of these wouldn't happen," Homura said in a low voice.

"Whoa, hold on you three. What's with this sudden depressed atmosphere?" Marisa asked in a surprised tone when she saw Mami, Sayaka and Homura were feeling down.

"No matter how sad nor how much regret you feel, you cannot deny nor change the past," Fate said.

"But one thing is certain is that you have the willpower to change the present for the better future," Nanoha said as she smiled at Fate and Hayate.

"So don't give up on the obstacles that we're facing right now. I believe that we all will get through this threads of endless fate," Hayate said.

"There's a saying that 'the past is a distant memory, the future is an unknown story, and the present is a reality'," Patchouli said. "But we have to work on the present to make the unknown story into a story that we dream of and want to have."

"Don't forget that the four of you are not alone. Admiral Lindy and the rest of the Arthra's crew members will be assisting you as much as we can," Chrono said.

"Thank you," Homura, Mami and Sayaka showed their gratitude one by one.

"Well, how about you?" Alice asked as she looked at Kyoko.

"Me?" Kyoko asked back.

"So you don't have any regret on what you had done in the past?" Vita asked.

"Why should I regret over something..." Kyoko stopped speaking as her mind was projecting images of Oriko.

"Are you worried about Oriko again?" Arf asked with a grin.

"What makes you think that?" Kyoko asked in an annoyed tone.

"Everyone knew about that since you kept calling her name while you were sleeping last night," Signum said. She could see Kyoko's face suddenly became red, embarassed with what she heard.

"Why don't you visit her today?" Shamal asked.

"No, I-I don't want to bother her. I want her to rest and recover her injuries," Kyoko replied.

"But she'll be happy if you show your concern by visiting her."

"Someone like me shouldn't visit her. I don't deserve to meet her after what I've done," Kyoko said in a guilty tone.

"But still, I'm happy that you're worried about me," all of them heard Oriko's voice before they looked at the door and saw Oriko slowly walked into the living room along with Kirika and Amy.

"Amy, what brings you here?" Sayaka asked. Amy only smiled as she held up a large metal briefcase.

"Isn't that..." Yuuno wanted to ask but Amy's nod while putting a finger in front of her mouth indicated that she wanted Yuuno to keep quiet about the matter. Everyone except Yuuno, Chrono and Sayaka looked at Amy with a curious expression.

"Anyway, I brought miss Oriko and miss Kirika since they insisted to come along," Amy said.

"Oi, aren't you suppose to be resting at the Arthra's infirmary?" Kyoko quickly asked, trying to divert Oriko's attention from the conversation that she and the others had.

"I'm already feeling all right. So that's why I'm here so that I can help you all," Oriko replied with a smile. But everyone could see that Oriko barely managed to stand up straight since she was using a walking stick to support herself, while Kirika lent her shoulder as an extra support. "Moreover, I've heard all about the tragedy that befall miss Madoka's family. I want to do something to help her."

"Are you stupid or something!? You don't have a soul gem nor any magical powers left. Why should you risk you life again!? What if you'll be killed this time for sure?" Kyoko asked. She clearly showed that she was angry with Oriko's descision. Signum patted her shoulder, trying to calm her down. Kyoko clicked her tongue and immediately looked away.

"Is there any reason you two want to continue fighting?" Shamal asked.

"I want to kill that kid, so that's why we want to join the fight," Kirika said with a low growl. Everyone looked at her serious face before they looked at Oriko who was smiling, as if she was trying to tell them that Kirika was joking around.

"I don't want you all to risk your lives while Kirika and I only dwindling at the Arthra," Oriko said. "I want to protect you all. As you can see, I don't know the reason but I've still retained little amount of my clairvoyance ability even though I didn't have my soul gem anymore. But I can't use it freely since the ability seems to absorb my stamina after I used it."

"That means your magical ability had became your natural ability. That's a common thing to occur if you're in Gensokyo," Alice said.

"So the reason you look tired right now is because you used your ability?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes, although it seems I can't use it to see the distant future like before. Also I've only used it to confirm whether I do still have the ability or not," Oriko replied.

"But you're still recovering from your injuries," Shamal said. "Not to mention that you lost quite a large amount of blood last night. You're still not in a good condition to fight."

"Oh, about that... Remi and Sakuya had helped me recovered my blood the moment I arrived here," Oriko said. She noticed that everyone were looking at her with a curious expression. "Uh, did I just said something weird?"

"Well, it's just that no one called Remilia by her the name 'Remi' except us," Marisa replied while she pointed her fingers at Alice, Patchouli and herself.

"She insisted me to call her that way earlier," Oriko said.

"It seems something had happened that caused her to make that descision," Patchouli said. Nanoha explained the incident that occured earlier that morning to Patchouli and the others that had just arrived before Patchouli stood up from her seat. "I'm going upstairs to check up on her."

"There's no need to do that," Remilia said as she entered the living room. She noticed that everyone was staring intensely at her. "What? You're all looking at me like I'm a ghost."

"Everyone's just wondering the reason you've changed a lot in a short amount of time," Zafira said.

"There's no any grand reason behind the changes. I just feel like it," Remilia replied.

"Um... We're sorry about your little sister," Hayate said. Remilia approached Hayate and patted her head. Hayate felt that Remilia was indeed behaving kinder than usual. But she thought that it was not a bad thing to watch the changes. "I'm sure that your little sister is still alive if miss Madoka only absorbed her. I mean it because I've been through the same experience in the past incident in the world that me and my friends live in."

"Thank you," Remilia showed her gratitude. Remilia could see Hayate was telling her the truth about the past incident that she mentioned. Hayate's eyes showed her concern about Flandre's safety. She hoped that Madoka were not lying about what she had told Remilia and the others.

"By the way Amy, what's inside the briefcase?" Nanoha asked.

"Oh, I almost forgot about it," Amy said before she put the briefcase on the table and opened it. Everyone could see the briefcase contained dozen of magic devices with various colours and shape. Marisa immediately took one of the magical device that shaped like a star.

"Wow, this jewelry is shiny!" Marisa's eyes glittered as she stared at the device.

[_Identifying... Nice to meet you, my master_]

"Cool! It called me master!" Maria said in a excited tone.

"You sure are amazing to be able to activate the device without any adjustment or data input," Yuuno said.

"So this is also a magic device huh?" Marisa asked.

"Yes, and that means that device is yours," Amy said.

"Cool!" Marisa was excited to obtain the device that she considered a new toy.

"Miss Amy, aren't these the magical device that you use in your world?" Alice asked.

"Yes. Admiral Lindy said that you should prepare for the worst," Amy replied.

"What does she mean by that?" Mami asked.

"We've discussed the incident that occured last night when you all tried to save Sayaka. Admiral Lindy decided to give each one of you a magical device to protect yourself especially from miss Madoka," Chrono explained.

"These devices are just for precaution. Since there's little time to learn new magic using the devices, so their main functions at the moment are to provide a protective barrier, a shield and a barrier jacket. So you all can have Nanoha and the others teach you on how to use it," Amy said.

"I think the device is unnecessary since magical girls won't die," Homura said.

"It'll be a different story if she hit and break your soul gem since she knew that is magical girls' weakpoint," Signum said. "The magical device provide barrier jacket to protect ourselves from serious injuries."

"But I doubt she was trying to kill us," Homura said.

"I agree, because she did said that she wanted to save magical girls when we encountered her last night," Mami said.

"But then again, she tried to kill me and Oriko," Kyoko argued.

"Save those who want to be saved, kill those who oppose her," Sakuya said. Everyone looked at her the moment they noticed the truth about the statement.

"So she's trying to become a savior and a dictator at the same time huh?" Vita asked.

"It seems so," Oriko said. "But then again, what did actually happen that made her killed her own family?"

"It was obvious that her family tried to prevent her and thus she regarded them as a hinderance," Remilia said.

"Whatever the reason she had, she is being controlled by the Jewel Seeds," Chrono said.

"It may be related to her desires," Yuuno said.

"Desires?" Alice asked.

"It means that the Jewel Seeds may be responding to her wish," Yuuno replied.

"Her wish..." Sayaka trailed off as she tried to think. "Does she wish to become a magical girl? But if that is her wish, then why does she killed everyone who oppose her?"

"We don't know regarding that matter, so her wish is clearly unknown," Chrono who heard Sayaka muttering said.

"I wonder why she need more than one Jewel Seed," Arf said. "I mean, one Jewel Seed is enough for her to fulfil her wishes."

"Maybe that bratty kid is trying to become the strongest," Kirika said.

"So you can think rationally too, huh?" Kyoko said.

"What do you mean by that, huh!? I'm always being rational," Kirika said in a rude tone.

"Kirika, Kyoko is just joking. So don't get angry at our friend, okay?" Oriko said. Her smile made Kirika instantly calm down and took a few deep breath. Kyoko only sighed while looking at Kirika's behaviour.

"I hope that miss Madoka wouldn't have such wish nor any other ill wishes," Nanoha said in a concerned tone. Fate slowly touched and lifted up Nanoha's hands.

"Don't worry. We'll make sure that we'll be able to save her," Fate said, trying to ease Nanoha's concern. Fate knew Nanoha said such thing because she recalled the Jewel Seeds incident that had occurred in the past.

"Yeah, since she won't be able to obtain full potential from the Jewel Seeds," Arf said.

...

It was late afternoon when the bright sky that took place after the rain had stopped slowly darkened once again. One would thought that it will be raining since gust of wind started to blow and slowly getting intense. But for Homura, she knew that the bad weather condition was the sign of something that was expected to arrive at Mitakihara City. But at the same time she was also unexpected of the creature's arrival.

"What a bad day today. I hope that it'll won't start raining again," Alice said while looking at the trees wriggling back and forth, side to side as it were being blown by the gust.

"Are you uncomfortable with rainy day?" Mami asked.

"No, I just don't like staying inside the mansion too much. But the weather condition made it hard for me to go outside and take a walk at least around the garden," Alice replied.

"Maybe we can play dolls for a bit," Hayate said while hugging a doll version of herself that Alice made. Alice patted Hayate's head while smiling as she could see her still were able to show her childish attitude despite she tried her hardest to stay mature. She believed that Hayate should not act too mature beyond her age. But Alice assumed that she behaved like that was due to her past that she experienced.

"That's a great idea," Alice said. Then she looked at Kyoko who was sitting on the sofa. "Care to join us?"

"Huh!? Are you stupid!? I'm not a kid anymore so spare me from your childish manner," Kyoko rebuked.

"You're just pretending that you're a mature girl," Vita said.

"I'm not pretending!" Kyoko argued in an annoyed tone.

"Don't you like the doll version of you that Alice made?" Hayate asked while putting the doll version of Kyoko on her lap. Kyoko looked at Hayate for a few second. She thought that if her little sister was still alive she may have become friends with Nanoha, Fate and Hayate. Her memories of her dead little sister made her expression changed, filled with sadness and grief. Hayate became concerned the moment she noticed the changes on Kyoko's expression. "Kyoko, are you all right?"

"Huh?" Kyoko snapped back into reality from her drifting thoughts.

"Are you worried about Oriko?" Hayate asked. At that time Oriko was being examined by Shamal for further treatment and healing process with Sakuya's assistance.

"Don't worry about me. I just recalled some of my memories," Kyoko grinned at Hayate.

"I'm sorry," Hayate said. She felt guilty as she felt that she made Kyoko recalled of her painful past.

"Don't worry about it," Kyoko said with a smile as she took the doll version of her from Hayate's lap. "Thanks."

The five of them suddenly heard footsteps from the hallway, running towards the living room they were currently at. They watched the door opened wide and saw Nanoha rushed in.

"Everyone, come quick!" Nanoha said.

"Is there something wrong?" Kyoko asked in a haste tone.

"Homura said that the Walpurgistnach had arrived!" Nanoha replied.

* * *

**Afterword:**

Hello there. How do you do?

I'm sorry that I've been unable to upload new chapter(s)as frequently as I used to, since I'm currently busy with my school writing project for one year (until next midyear X'3)... But I'm still trying my best to write the story which is this chapter... Well, one thing after another (just like Marisa said in this chapter XD)... Now that the final badass witch arrive at Mitakihara, will the girls be able to stop it? What will happen to Madoka while they were trying to defeat Walpurgistnach? More importantly, where is Kyuubey XD XD?


	19. Chapter 18

Hello there.

Wow, I didn't expect I've finished this chapter in such a short time (although I still took time to write it X'D), unlike the last few chapters which took me more than one month to finish it. Well, here it is. The battle with Walpy **\\( 3 )/**. The only challenges in writing this chapter is the battle scene, but I did my best in describing the battle as clear as I can. Hope you all can imagine how the battle takes place as you read through. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 18: The Battle with Walpurgistnach**

Reimu and the others gathered at the mansion's library. Amy had opened up a video communication to allow them to communicate with Lindy and Nitori who were at the Arthra. Reimu and her companions could see that Nanoha and the others had a serious expression while waiting for Lindy to speak and explain the situation.

"It has been confirmed that Walpurgistnach had arrived today, which is several days earlier than expected," Lindy said.

"Does this have to do with us?" Reimu asked.

"I believe so," Lindy replied. "Miss Homura, you also didn't expect this to happen too early, right?"

"Y-yes, this is the first time Walpurgistnach arrived too soon. It always arrive at the same day and time in the past timelines," Homura replied.

"So what should we do?" Sayaka asked. She had planned to search for Madoka all by herself. Lindy could see Sayaka started to show a little bit anxious about her friend.

"I will command other mages to search for miss Madoka and I'll let you all know immediately once they found her location and whereabout. For now I want you all to focus on Walpurgistnach and defeat it so that there'll be no other major incident that force miss Homura to reverse the time," Lindy explained briefly.

"That's right. The more the merrier," Marisa said.

"I don't know whether we'll be able to defeat Walpurgistnach even with all of us," Homura said.

"Don't be too pessimist," Reimu said.

"That's right. I believe we can break through the fate that you and your friends were forced to live in the past timelines," Vita said.

Homura's tears started to swell as she was moved by the kindness showed by everyone, including Reimu and her friends although sometimes they went a little bit hard on her. She guessed that was her punishment for being a greedy fool who wanted to be a heroine.

"Too bad we don't have free time to be able to learn some tricky magic using the magic device," Marisa said with a sigh.

"As I explained earlier, you'll only be able to use protective magic for the time being," Amy said.

"I think you don't have to use any barrier nor shield when engaging with Walpurgistnach because its attacks are mostly random and simple. So you should be able to defeat it easily," Nitori said.

"What do you think, Homura?" Shamal asked.

"Since Walpurgistnach is a fusion of multiple witches, I don't think we'll be able to defeat it in short amount of time," Homura replied.

"So it'll be a tough fight huh?" Reimu mutted with a sigh. "I just wish that I can receive some payment for these incidents."

"Don't worry, we'll prepare something for all of you after this incident is over," Lindy said.

"I don't think we can use currency from the world outside Gensokyo," Reimu said. Lindy only smiled to see Reimu frowned about payment. She guessed that an occupation as a shrine maiden sure was tough.

"I bet that witch wouldn't be able to put up a fight against all of us," Arf said.

"There's one more problem," Homura said. "If you all noticed in the video that miss Nitori showed us before, you all should be able to see that I was fighting against something that looked like magical girls."

"The one that had no face and completely covered in black?" Alice asked.

"Yes. That was the Walpurgistnach's minions. We'll be having a hard time if the Walpurgistnach released its minions," Homura replied.

"Don't worry. We'll think of something. I believe there's nothing that is completely invincible and cannot be defeated," Fate said.

"I agree. We'll support you and make sure those minions won't be able to harm us," Zafira said.

While they were talking to each other, Nanoha could feel Remilia who was sitting far away from all of them started to feel anxious although she did not show it on her expression. She slowly approached and touched Remilia's hands. Sayaka who saw Nanoha also approached Remilia without hesistant.

"Don't worry," Nanoha whispered. Sayaka and her curved a small smile to ease Remilia's anxiety. Remilia only nodded and smiled back at them to hide her feelings, although she knew that the two of them had already realized.

"I think we should head out right now," Hayate suggested.

"Yeah. The quicker we get this done, the faster we'll get our normal life back," Kyoko said.

"I agree, since I believe there'll be no more witches to fight anymore now that miss Lindy is helping us," Sayaka said.

"Yes, I've also sent mages to deal with the witches and gather all magical girls that possess the soul gem. So you all don't have to worry about that matter," Lindy said with a smile.

"Thank you very much. I don't know how to repay your kindness," Mami said as her tears started to swell up.

"It's our duty to protect everyone from anything or anyone who misuse magic to cause havoc. I believe miss Reimu and her friends are also here for the same reason because they're someone who we can rely on. Not to mention that they're pure at heart and capable of solving difficult problems."

"Pure at heart huh?" Reimu felt a little bit embarrassed to hear such compliment from Lindy. Her face immediately lit up with full of motivation. "All right, I'll bring down that witch and save miss Madoka no matter what."

"It seems miss Lindy is able to see how Reimu's mind actually works," Mami whispered to Alice.

"I guess so," Alice said.

"It seems that we're ready to go," Signum said.

"Miss Oriko and miss Kirika will be on stand-by with us at the mansion for now," Chrono suddenly said.

"But..." Oriko tried to reject the suggestion before Chrono interrupted her.

"You don't have any magical power anymore and we don't want you to exhaust yourself if you are to use your clairvoyance," Chrono said.

"You'll be fighting in a different aspect for all of us," Yuuno said. "Your clairvoyance is truly an important and precious ability. That's why we need to optimize your ability so that you can help us in any way you can."

"How about me!? I want to join in the fight!" Kirika protested.

"At least let Kirika fight in my stead. I'm sure she can help them in any way she can," Oriko tried to persuade Chrono. Chrono looked at Amy who gave a big nod with a grin.

"All right. Miss Kirika can join the fight," Chrono said.

"But I still need to prepare and adjust the magical device for her," Amy said.

"Just set something looks like a claws as my weapon and I'm ready to fight," Kirika said.

"All right," Amy said and immediately pressed every keyboard that lay in front of her at a very high speed. Several computer windows continued to pop up and close, displaying something that Reimu and the others could not understand except Nanoha and her friends. It did not take her more than one minute to finish setting Kirika's device. "There. I've finished it. I don't know whether you'll be able to use the device properly since it's not like your previous magic."

"I could care less about that as long as I can go all out in a fight," Kirika said with a big smirk. Kyoko was the first person who let out a big sigh to see Kirika's big talk although she did not remember she was once also behaved the same way. But she did not want to say something since she did not want to start a quarrel in front of Oriko.

"Come on now, we're wasting our time here," Kyoko said before she changed her clothes into her magical girl outfit. Then she held up a magical device that Amy gave her and the others. The device shone as it changed completely Kyoko's appearance. Everyone widened their eyes in surprise to see the device merged with Kyoko's soul gem, giving it a new shape. Even her spear was equipped with a cartridge system. "Whoa, what the heck!?"

"This is something new which I didn't expect," Lindy said in an impressed tone.

"Neither does us," Arf said.

"But it's impossible for this to happen," Amy said.

"The only possible theory is that the magical device seems to acknoledge the magical properties of the soul gem," Patchouli said.

"That being said, her clothes are rather bold. She must've imagine something like this all this time," Vita said as she stared at Kyoko's panties that was revealed through her semi-transparent skirt.

"Don't stare at me too much! I don't think we have too much time to make a fuss on this matter!" Kyoko said with her red embarrassed face before she walked out the library. Sayaka sneered as she kept staring at Kyoko's clothes. While everyone looked at each other with a sigh before they also left the room.

...

Everyone flew at a very high speed towards the centre of Mitakihara City. Although Homura and her companions had a hard time manuvering in the air, they managed to keep their pace with Reimu, Nanoha and the others. Homura, Mami and Kirika clothes were also had major changes, giving them a refreshing appearance.

"How does it feel to be able to fly in the sky?" Alice asked Mami.

"It's quite difficult do adjust to these new magic and weapon..." Mami trailed off as she looked at her old musket that enhanced into a dual railgun. "But I don't think it's a bad thing."

"You'll be able to change its form into a musket that you usually used," Shamal said.

"But I don't think they'll be able to do that nor learn new magic spell right now," Sayaka said. Her eyes widened in surprise to see Mami's weapon suddenly changed form into a musket. "Wait!? How did you do that!?"

"I just listened and conveyed something that resonating inside my soul into my mind," Mami said.

"I thought I was the only one who have those feelings," Homura said as she looked at her shield that was floating beside her. Reimu had agreed to undo the seal on Homura's shield in exchange for Homura's promise not to use the time reverse magic. Homura realized she could not break the promise since the sand time limit on her shield has not even run out yet, which made her unable to perform any time reverse.

"There, you don't have to worry about that," Kyoko grinned at Sayaka. Sayaka stared at the three of them with an unsatisfied expression since she had a hard time getting used to the magical device the first time she used it.

"Man, how I wish I can have new toys like the four of you," Marisa said with a sigh. Reimu and her companions were also equipped themselves with their device but none of them obtained neither new outfit nor any weapon.

"Homura and her friends obtained their new magical power was something that never occur even in our world," Fate said.

"I guess that's must be their lucky day huh."

"You can look at it that way."

"It seems we're getting near to the Walpurgistnach," Hayate said the moment she felt strong surge of energy. The moment they passed few buildings ahead them, the clear atmosphere suddenly filled with white fogs. Not long after that everyone could see a parade of familiars in different shape and size, combined with various ribbons, music and umbrellas.

"How convenient of the witch to welcome us with a circus," Remilia said as she looked around.

"But it seems they're harmless," Sakuya said. She noticed that Kirika killed the familiars that passed near her. "It seems Kirika is enjoying herself."

"You're wasting your energy killing those familiars," Reimu said.

"Why do you care about what I do? You're not the boss of me, so stop acting like one," Kirika said in a bored tone. Reimu felt like she wanted to smack Kirika's head if it was not for Hayate who tried to calm her down.

"All of these are just part of its welcoming ceremony to show that it had arrived," Homura said as she continued walking. "Let's hurry. We're just a few away from it."

They only took a few steps before they saw the fog started to thickening. The moment it suddenly disappeared they could see a large doll-like witch hanging upside down with several gears on the top connected with ropes that were pulled by the parade of familiars, slowly floating in the sky across the thick clouds.

"You know, I do remember watching this witch in the video..." Marisa trailed off before she chuckled. "But I didn't expect it to be this big. It's like ten times larger than all the witches that we've seen before."

"What's wrong? Are you afraid?" Vita teased.

"Heck I'm going to feel afraid about that witch," Marisa said before she looked at Nanoha and the others. "Speaking of which, you all seem quite calm about the size of the witch."

"You can say that we're used to dealing something larger than this," Fate said. Marisa raised her eyebrows to hear what Fate had just said. She guessed that different world have different types of foe.

"Something's not right," Homura said as she observed Walpurgistnach.

"What do you mean, Homura?" Hayate asked.

"The colour and the size of the Walpurgistnach is different from before, and I believe this is the first time I see those large living serpents emerging from its clothes," Homura replied.

"Let me guess... The reason for those changes are due to our intervention," Reimu and Arf said at the same time. The two of them looked at each other before they smiled for having the same thought. While the others felt like the wanted to let out a big sigh. But they did not have the time to put up a long conversation.

"Let's finish this witch with a blow," Sayaka said before she conjured dozens ice shards and shot it towards Walpurgistnach. But the projectiles hit something that everyone recognized it the moment they saw it.

"That witch has a Mid-Childan shield!?" Nanoha was a little bit surprised. "Is it possible that it possess a Jewel Seed?"

"That's the only logical explanation for this," Fate said. Since Sayaka's attack alerted Walpurgistnach, its seprents immediately charged towards Reimu and everyone else. All of them had to fly above the ground to dodge the attack and gained their distance from the serpents and Walpurgistnach. The serpents slowly returned and hid inside Walpurgistnach's clothes.

"That was close," Mami said.

"How did it obtain the Jewel Seed?" Alice asked.

"Probably it picked up the seed along the way here," Vita said.

"That means Madoka will likely to come here to take the Jewel Seed. We need to grab it before she do," Homura said. She used her magic to stop the time and took out as many armaments as she could. She did not waste her own time and immediately shot every round towards Walpurgistnach before she undo her magic. Everyone were surprised to witness explosion suddenly blew off right in front of their eyes.

"Darn it! Those explosions made me skip my heartbeat," Remilia said.

"S-sorry," Homura apologized in a concerned tone.

"She's just surprised so there's no need to be concerned of," Sakuya said with a smile.

"But all that explosions didn't scratch the witch even a bit," Vita said.

"Walpurgistnach is the most powerful witch in the history," Mami said as she recalled her memories of the informations about the witch that she heard from Kyuubey as well as from Homura's explaination. "Now I know why not even one magical girl could defeat it."

"Even so, now we have quite a team to be able to bring it down," Kyoko said as her hair colour changed into a mixture of orange and red as she was enshrouded with fiery aura. Her spear automatically ejected a cartridge as she immediately duplicated herself using Rosso Phantasma technique and immediately hopped towards Walpurgistnach at different directions through the large floating debris. She and her duplicates spun at a high speed and instantly tried to hit Walpurgistnach the moment they were in range. Several shields formed around Walpurgistnach and blocked the attacks. Although Kyoko's attack did not get through, she noticed changes in her strength curved a big grin. "I didn't expect I'm getting this strong."

"Although it's not strong enough to break through that nasty shield," Marisa grinned as she stood up on her broom and followed one of Kyoko's duplication. As she got past several large debris and Kyoko she took out and declared her spell card. Dozens star shaped projectiles appeared and shot towards Walpurgistnach. Since she knew engaging with Walpurgistnach would be a serious battle, she had increased the force of her magic. But her efforts seemed futile as none of her projectiles managed to break the shield. "What the-"

"This isn't good. We're already encountered problems with this witch," Alice said as she summoned Shanghai and Hourai. She suddenly noticed that the serpents had charged a spheric mana and shot several beams towards all of them. "Look out!"

Homura who suddenly had the urge feeling of wanting to protect everyone rushed to the front line. As she felt the feeling that resonating inside her soul, her shield ejected a cartridge and changed its form into six revolvers. The revolvers spread to different angle and surrounded everyone before it conjured a large prism shield. Although the collision between the beam and the shield caused the air around them to vibrate, it did not manage to break through. Homura breathe heavily as she tried hard to sustain the force of the beam.

"Nice one," Arf said as she pat Homura's shoulder.

"It's... too strong," Homura said while panting.

"I believe the witch's strength increased due to the Jewel Seed," Signum said.

"We need to disperse to different directions," Hayate said. Everyone nodded before they break out into small groups.

"Levantine, snake form," Signum commanded. Her device ejected a cartridge before it extended into a long multiple sections of blade. She whipped her device towards Walpurgistnach but to no avail, the shield was activated and blocked the attack. "We need to break through its shield!"

"Let me handle it," Zafira said.

"Divine Buster!" Nanoha shouted as she shot pink beam that she fully charged towards Walpurgistnach. As the witch started to create a shield to block Nanoha's magic, Zafira rushed in and focused his mana on both of his hands. It took him two full-powerful blows to break the shield into pieces, allowing Nanoha's attack to hit the witch.

"Die!" Remilia wasted no time and flew towards Walpurgistnach. She immediately landed a heavy and powerful blow on the witch using her fist, causing it to thud onto the land below.

"Dang, how did that petite vampire became that strong?" Kyoko asked.

"Mi'lady has the strength of an Oni and the speed of a Tengu, that's why," Sakuya said before she used her ability to stop time. As soon as she resume back the time countless knives appeared and flew towards Walpurgistnach, continuously hitting its body.

The witch's laugh made Kirika started to feel chill on her body but was not due to the fear of the witch. It was her instinct and desire to kill the witch in front of her that started to boil up. She immediately flew dashed towards the witch and constantly slashing its body. But her attack did not inflict great damage to the witch. Kirika was too focused on the witch that she did not notice a familiar appeared and attacked her, causing her to dart far away from Walpurgistnach. Although she felt the pain from the attack she still managed to let out a laugh.

At the same time Kyoko who had dismissed all of her duplicates summoned one of magic skills that she always had in mind for such a long time; the time when her father always told a story of her favourite tale. A horse covered in blazing flame suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slowed down in front of Kyoko before she hopped onto it.

"Here I go!" Kyoko said. Her horse accelerated as she thrusted her spear forward. Several spears continued to rain down from the sky towards Walpurgistnach as her spear constantly stabbed the witch's body. The witch tried to stop Kyoko using its familiars, but the horse that she rode put up a wall of flame to burn the familiars that approached the two of them.

"It's working," Shamal said.

"Chain bind!" Arf conjured several chains that wrapped around the witch's body, trying to restrict its movement. But that did not stop the serpernts from trying to tackle her. But the serpents did not manage to hit Arf as Alice's dolls suddenly appeared and used their kite shield to block the attack. "Thanks."

"Spell Card! Artful Sacrifice!" Alice threw dozens of dolls towards the serpents, creating large explosions. The chain that held off Walpurgistnach did not last long as it finally broke free and started to float into the sky.

"A witch like this will need a large hammer to bring it down!" Vita said as her Graf Eisen ejected several cartridges before it slowly emerged into a gigan form. Vita immediately swung her device towards the witch's gears. "Drop dead! Gigant Schlag!"

"Spell Card! Heart Break!" Remilia declared her spell card as she raised her arm and conjured a scarlet spear. The spear did not manage to hit Walpurgistnach since it pierced the serpents that had blocked the attack.

Although Walpurgistnach did not conjure a shield, it started releasing several shadowy familiars that were similar to magical girls. The familiars dispersed and tried to attack Reimu and the others. Zafira casted Steel Yoke and tried to stop the familiars. But as the familiars' body was not solid it changed its form and grazed through the Yoke's gaps. It was Kirika who looked like someone who was lust for blood dashed all over and killed all of the familiars.

"Hahahaha! Too slow!" Kirika shouted as she let a loud laugh.

"Hey, watch where you're swinging your claws!" Reimu said in an angry tone the moment after Kirika's weapon nearly hit her. But Kirika was enjoying herself that she did not bother to listen to Reimu. Reimu let out a heavy sigh in frustration before she took out and declared her spell card. Several large Yin-Yang orbs formed her and she continuously shot the orbs towards Walpurgistnach's shield.

As the orbs finally broke through the shield, Reimu used the chance to throw countless amulets and talismans that serve as projectiles. Though the projectiles seemed to have some effects on Walpurgistnach, it still let out a creepy laugh as if it was not in pain. Seeing that Reimu continued to attack Walpurgistnach, the familiars and several serpents dashed and charged towards her. But she managed to shake them off before she threw several talismans at them. The familiars and serpents slowly vanished into the thin air as the talismans touched them.

"Here's a second wave!" Marisa said as she declared another spell card and took out her mini Hakkero. The air around her started to get tense as her Hakkero focused its energy before it shot out colourful beam. The beam managed to hit Walpurgistnach since the shield it created were shattered into pieces by Remilia and Zafira's punch. "Yeah! It's working!"

"But it haven't show any sign of weakening," Shamal said.

"Then we just need to hit it more," Mami said as she changed her musket into dual railguns. Two spheric mana formed as she aimed her railguns at Walpurgistnach before she pulled the trigger. "Burst Nova!"

The moment the spheric mana entered Walpurgistnach's body, it immediately burst shattered into small needle that pierced through the witch's body. Then Mami took out a spell card that Alice taught and trained her when the two of them were at her apartment.

"Spell Card! Ribbon Cutter!" Mami declared her spell card before dozens ribbon formed around her. Walpurgistnach summoned its serpents to block off Mami's attack, but the ribbons were as sharp as a blade that it cut the serpents into pieces.

"You even have the time to name your magic skills huh?" Kyoko asked as her horse floated near Mami.

"You know it's my habit of doing it," Mami said. The both of them exchanged smile as they remembered their time together back when they were still senior and junior. Suddenly a beam came from above them, caught them a little bit off guard. It was Signum who was nearby that put up a shield to protect them from the beam.

"It's fine to be able to talk casually during a fight like this, but don't let your guard down," Signum adviced.

"We know that. We just didn't saw that coming," Kyoko made an excuse.

"So much for being a veteran magical girl. You didn't even notice the attack," Sayaka teased Kyoko.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear that from you!" Kyoko said in an annoyed tone.

"You might as well pay attention to your surroundings," Patchouli rebuked as she declared her spell card. Several fireballs formed in front of her before she shot the projectiles towards a serpent that tried to ambush Sayaka from below. "If you have time to play around, you might as well use that time to focus."

"Serves you right," Kyoko said. Mami, Signum and Patchouli sighed as they looked at both Kyoko and Sayaka who still had time to pick a fight despite the fierce battle they were engaging in.

"This is all that familiar's fault," Sayaka said in an annoyed tone as she conjured countless cutlasses. The cutlasses swirled around her as she started to create movements as if she was dancing, slashing every familiar that were in her sight. She totally ignored Kyoko who was teasing her, making Kyoko felt annoyed that she left Sayaka to fight other familiars and serpents elsewhere. Patchouli pulled out and declared another spell card and swung her hand, releasing dozens sharp blades created from metal element.

Signum's Levantine ejected a cartridge as she took a fighting stance. The moment her sword was enveloped in flame she immediately dashed towards Walpurgistnach. Her attack made a loud explosion the moment it made a contact with the witch.

"This is never ending," Patchouli said while contined to engage with Walpurgistnach using her spell cards.

"Homura, how do you actually beat this thing?" Reimu asked.

"I... don't know," Homura admitted.

"What do you mean you don't know!?"

"As I said before, neither I nor other magical girls were capable of defeating it no matter what we do. Madoka was the only one who can defeat Walpurgistnach in the past timelines before she herself became a witch," Homura replied before she froze the time once again.

"Need a help?" Sakuya asked with a smile. Homura was a little bit surprised as she forgot that Sakuya could also manipulate time. Homura only nodded and gave Sakuya several grenades. After they finished set up the grenades all over Walpurgistnach, Sakuya then threw her knives around the witch and the familiars. As soon as they unfroze the time, Reimu and the others once again were surprised by the explosion along with knives flying all over.

"I wish you two warn us whenever you're going to use your explosions or knives," Vita said.

"I believe we won't die from my knives since we're protected by the barrier jacket," Sakuya said while keeping her smiling face. Vita only sighed before she conjured several iron spheres and hit it with her device, turning it into homing projectiles that hit Walpurgistnach.

"Ugh, I'm getting tired from constantly conjuring projectiles and dodging these assaults," Marisa grunted.

"It's not like you're not used to something like this," Reimu said while dodging the beams shot by the serpents.

"Shut up. This isn't the same as having a spell card battle," Marisa said in an annoyed tone.

"You should've use your shield more often. All of Admiral Lindy's efforts will be wasted if you don't use it properly," Vita said.

"Attack like these isn't really a bother," Marisa said. "What I'm annoyed at is that Walpurgistnach don't want to drop dead."

"But it seems its getting weaker," Shamal said as she could see Walpurgistnach did not put up any shield anymore due to being constantly destroyed by Remilia and Zafira.

"Shamal's right," Hayate said while she continued to shoot normal projectiles at familiars that approached her. "If we can keep this up, we'll be able to kill it. Then we can retrieve the Jewel Seed."

"Nanoha, you've mentioned about something related to the past Jewel Seeds incident right? Can you use whatever method you've used to retrieve the Jewel Seed from Walpurgistnach without having to kill it first?" Alice asked.

"I need a clear shot at it," Nanoha replied. It was clear to Alice the reason Nanoha said such thing; Walpurgistnach had changed its tactic from defence to offence, summoning countless familiars and serpents.

"Nanoha, I'll clear some space for you," Fate said, exchanging smile with Nanoha. Bardische ejected a cartridge before a magic circle formed below Fate. She shot dozens of arrow shaped projectiles that she conjured, killing every familiar that blocked Nanoha's path.

"Mami, assist me," Alice said. Mami nodded and immediately reverted her weapon's form back into a musket before conjuring contless muskets around her. Alice declared her spell card before countless dolls appeared around her. Bullets from Mami's musket shot down half of the familiars while Alice's dolls pinned down the other half. Soon Nanoha could see the way that lead to Walpurgistnach had been cleared. Shamal and Arf put up a bind to prevent Walpurgistnach from moving around and dodging any incoming attack. But Walpurgistnach still managed to slowly broke the bind off one by one.

"Nanoha!" Fate gave a cue. Nanoha nodded and immediately pointed Raising Heart towards Walpurgistnach. The pink beam hit Walpurgistnach slowly binded the witch, making it more powerless and unable to move.

"Finally, we're able to pin down the witch," Vita said.

"Raising Heart, sealing mo-" Nanoha did not managed to give command as all of them were suddenly struck by lightning.

"That... lightning..." Kyoko tried to speak.

"Darn... it... Where... did... it came... from?" Remilia cursed as she tried to move her body. Although the lightning did not injured them since they were equipped with barrier jacket, but it did managed to inflict stun and paralyzed to their body.

"My... body... can't... move..." Signum said.

"Ahahahaha! It's quite pleasing to see all of you couldn't move at all," Madoka said with a laugh as she decended from the sky above all of them. Reimu and everyone else watched Madoka who curved a big smirk as she managed to hold them down.

"Madoka..." Homura muttered as she stared at Madoka who floated in front of all of them.


	20. Chapter 19

Hello there. It's been a while. As usual, I've finished a chapter quite fast. Probably it's because I've managed to shorten the story and I didn't divide the story to several location setting like several chapters before. Well I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I do, especially since my story had a chapter left before I put down the curtain that'll be its ending.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Her Desires**

The moment Reimu and the rest thought they could take the Jewel Seed from Walpurgistnach and defeat the witch, Madoka had already floated in between the witch and all of them. A loading bar screen appeared as one of Madoka's cubes slowly approached and circled Walpurgistnach. Everyone tried to move their body but proved failed since they were still paralyzed.

"Darn... it..." Vita muttered.

"I didn't expect all of you to let your guard down. I guess you all didn't expect that I was hiding nearby," Madoka said with a smirk. "But I must say that I should express my gratitude for all of your hard work in trying to take down the Walpurgistnach. I don't have to waste my energy and magical powers over all this mess. Now you all should just stay there while witnessing me taking the last Jewel Seed. Then I'll let you enjoy fighting with the witch back."

"Shamal, can you dispell this effect?" Hayate asked using telepathic communication.

"I can, but my body can't move," Shamal replied.

"No one can move, alright," Marisa said.

"This isn't the time for you to make a joke," Alice rebuked.

"I'm not trying to be funny here," Marisa said in an annoyed tone.

"Pache, you do know some spell to break this stupid stun effect right?" Remilia asked.

"Unfortunately I don't have enough energy left to cast any troublesome spell," Patchouli replied.

"That's a funny answer considering that you're a powerful magician," Kyoko said. Patchouli felt a little bit irritated to hear Kyoko's remark but she did not want to waste further energy trying to argue with short and simple-minded person.

As Madoka turned around to look at Walpurgistnach several projectiles suddenly rained down from above and hit her. Several bind immediately formed and binded her before she could do anything. Madoka looked above and saw Chrono, Yuuno and Oriko descended down before Chrono put up a barrier around themselves, Reimu and the others. Everyone could see Oriko had already equipped herself with magical device that Lindy had provided.

"Sorry we're late," Oriko said.

"Why are you here!?" Kyoko asked Oriko.

"I foresaw that miss Madoka will ambush you all, that's why we're here to assist you all."

"Although she had ambushed all of us before you three arrived," Arf said.

"Miss Oriko told us that miss Madoka will likely to stun you all. So Yuuno was preparing some stun dispell magic," Chrono said.

"But it'll take time for me to complete casting the magic to all of you since I'm trying to maintain binding spell on miss Madoka, so you'll have to bear with me," Yuuno said.

"I'll cast my binding spell on her so you can focus on the dispell magic," Oriko volunteered.

"But you don't have much magical energy in you," Yuuno said.

"I'll be all right. Now hurry," Oriko said as she could see Madoka's cubes were trying to break the bind.

"I'll help miss Oriko. You should focus on your dispell magic," Chrono said.

"Yuuno, cast the dispell on me first. You can assist Oriko holding miss Madoka off after that. I'll handle the rest," Shamal said. Yuuno nodded and immediately casted the dispell magic on Shamal. At the same time Oriko amd Chrono tried their best to hold Madoka with their bind, but Madoka's cube could easily break the bind. As soon as the dispell magic came into effect, Shamal could feel the numb that was going through every part of her body suddenly disappearred. She did not waste any more time and quickly commanded her magic device. "Klarwind, help me remove the stun from everyone."

[_Nullifier Drop_]

Green sparkled raindrops fall from the sky and drenched Reimu and the others. Just like how Shamal felt, all of them could feel their body slowly became lighter than earlier.

"Thank you very much, Shamal," Alice said.

"It's my duty to support you in any way I can," Shamal said before she commanded her device to perform a healing magic spell. This time green petals swirlling around everyone as they felt a soft breeze swept through their body and instantly enlightened them.

"Amazing. So this is how being healed feels like," Reimu said in an amused tone.

"Don't tell me this is the first time you're being healed like this?" Kyoko asked.

"I believe this is the first time for everyone except Nanoha and her friends," Mami said.

"I don't think this is the best time for us to talk too much," Vita said as she pointed her device at Madoka and Walpurgistnach. Everyone could see that the progress bar had already reached seventy percent, which indicated that there was thirty percent more left before Madoka could retrieve the last Jewel Seed and absorb Walpurgistnach. Vita's device ejected a cartridge before it changed into a rocket form. As soon as its nozzle lit up, Vita accelerated at a high speed with her device's tip pointed towards Madoka. Madoka who had just broke free from the bind immediately conjured a shield to block the attack. "I think this is the time for anyone to separate the Jewel Seeds from her!"

"I'll do it," Homura said before her surroundings turned monochrome. She quickly dashed towards Madoka with a special spell card that Reimu crafted on her hand. She hoped that she could perform the spell card well even though Reimu had explained on how to use it to everyone. She immediately declared the spell card as soon as she resume the time flow. "Spell Card! Mystique Palm!"

Everyone waited for the chance to snatch the Jewel Seeds from Madoka. But none of them saw even one Jewel Seed. Instead they saw two figures that appeared and seemed to separate themselves from Madoka; two figures that Reimu and her friends recognized. Remilia wasted no time and rushed towards one of the figures, followed by Nanoha and Sayaka. While Alice summoned her dolls to grab the other figure.

"Remilia, is she your little sister?" Nanoha asked as she stared at the little girl who was embraced by Remilia.

"Yes," Remilia replied quietly.

"She's kinda cute," Sayaka said. Remilia only smiled softly to hear Sayaka's compliment.

"You should head back to the mansion to take care of your little sister. Who knows when miss Madoka will absorb your sister again," Yuuno said as he approached Remilia, Sayaka and Nanoha. Remilia looked like she was unsatisfied with Yuuno but she quickly agreed with his suggestion after having a second thought. Remilia and Sakuya immediately left the battlefield, leaving everyone who wanted to save Madoka. At the same time everyone stared at the girl with a pair of black wings who was being slapped several times by Marisa.

"Hey Aya. Aya~ wake up," Marisa called. But there was no response from Aya.

"She's still unconscious. You should bring her somewhere safe," Signum said after she examined Aya's condition.

"Let's leave her here then," Marisa said before she lay Aya on the top of the building. Signum looked like she was unconvinced with Marisa's action before Marisa grinned at her. "Don't worry too much about her. She'll be able to survive herself."

"I assume that miss Madoka absorbed your friend when she infiltrated Gensokyo this morning," Signum said as she and Marisa gathered back with Reimu and the others.

"I think so. Well, I guess that Aya disturbed her too much. That's why she was absorbed," Marisa said. "But more importantly, I'm started to get concerned with the Jewel Seeds inside miss Madoka's body."

Signum, Marisa and the others watched Madoka as the gust of wind that surrounded her ever since Homura ambushed her started to die. They could see that she was breathing heavily, as if she was just finished running. Madoka immediately swung her hand several times to perform her wind cutter magic. Since the trajectory her attack was straightforward Reimu and her companions dodged the projectiles while Nanoha and her friends used their shield to block it off.

"What did you do to me? Where did those two girls came from?" Madoka asked after she caught her breath.

"They're our friends that you've absorbed," Alice replied.

"Don't you try to be funny with me. I didn't absorbed anyone aside from collecting the Jewel Seeds," Madoka said.

"Yes you did. You even seemed to absorb every witches you've encountered and defeated," Reimu said. Madoka did not say anything aside from conjuring dozens of Shining Needles and shot it towards Reimu and the rest. Chrono immediately put up another barrier to protect themselves from the needles. It was clear to them that Madoka started to felt irritated by them.

"Why didn't miss Madoka remember about absorbing miss Remilia's little sister and your other friend?" Chrono asked.

"If we know the answer we wouldn't be as puzzled as you are," Kyoko said.

"Reimu, I've already used the spell card you gave me but I can't see any Jewel Seed coming out from Madoka's body," Homura said.

"I can see that," Reimu said.

"This situation is getting weirder and weirder," Marisa said.

"Madoka, why are you doing this? Why are you behaving like this?" Sayaka asked.

"Madoka, please stop this at once. We aren't trying to hurt you. We just want to save you," Mami said.

"I've told you already that I like it this way so don't get in my way, and I believe I've already told you all I'm doing this to save every magical girls from Kyuubey and kill all the witches," Madoka said.

"Even if it means you had to kill your family or other people?" Hayate asked in a sad tone.

"What are you talking about!? My family is at home right now and I don't kill anyone," Madoka argued in an angry tone.

"Don't tell me you didn't even remember that you've tried to kill me and Oriko!?" Kyoko shouted.

"I didn't..." Madoka suddenly stopped the moment she felt sharp pain inside her head. Her scream echoed across the sky as she put her hands on her head, trying to endure the pain.

"Madoka!" Homura tried to fly towards Madoka but was stopped by Fate.

"It's too dangerous," Fate adviced.

"What's happening to her?" Alice asked.

"Miss Madoka..." Nanoha trailed off as she and the others watched Madoka kept struggling.

"She's suffering. Is it possible that she started to regain her consciousness?" Shamal asked.

"I think so," Yuuno replied before he looked at everyone. "This is our chance to separate miss Madoka from the Jewel Seeds."

"I'll do it," Alice said as she sent her doll with a spell card on its hands. The moment the doll reached Madoka, Alice immediately declared the spell card. But once again there were no Jewel Seeds separated from Madoka. The doll sent by Alice was immediately burnt to crisp by Madoka.

"Why can't we seperate the Jewel Seeds from miss Madoka?" Oriko muttered.

"I guess the spell card didn't actually work," Sayaka said.

"Excuse me, but there's no way my spell card didn't have any effect," Reimu said in an annoyed tone.

"I agree with Reimu because all of us saw miss Remilia's little sister and the other girl seperated from miss Madoka," Arf said. All of them jolted in surprise to see Madoka suddenly shouted like someone mad, as if she was arguing with herself.

"Jewel Seeds! What's going on!? What are you all hiding from me!?" Madoka asked while looking at the cubes. "Don't you try to keep anything a secret from me! I am your mistress!"

"Now I understand," Yuuno suddenly spoke as he pointed his finger at the cubes. "I believe the Jewel Seeds are inside the cubes."

"That makes sense," Marisa snapped her finger.

"But Raising Heart told me earlier that the Jewel Seeds were inside miss Madoka's body," Nanoha said.

"I think it's possible that the Jewel Seeds are able to move itselves from Madoka's body to the cube," Yuuno explained.

"Miss Madoka had already regained her consciousness. We must save her fast," Vita said. But none of them could do anything as bright white flash blinded their sight for a few second. As soon as they regained visibility, they saw Madoka was falling down onto the ground.

"Madoka!" Homura immediately froze the time and dashed towards Madoka. She instantly grabbed Madoka the moment she resume the timeflow. Reimu and the others landed on the top of the building where Homura and Madoka were at the moment. Everyone could see seven cubes were still visible while the eighth cube was still circling Walpurgistnach, with its progress bar now at ninety percent.

"NOOO! JEWEL SEEDS! PLEASE COME BACK TO ME! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Madoka shouted, pleading with tears flowing heavily across her cheeks.

"Madoka, what're you saying!? Are you going to be its slave again!?" Mami asked in an angry tone.

"I'm not being a slave to the Jewel Seeds! I'm its mistress and it's the Jewel Seeds duty to make my desires come true!" Madoka argued.

"Cut the crap! If you're not its slave then why did you tried to kill Oriko!?" Kirika shouted. Oriko immediately hugged Kirika to prevent her from went out of control.

"Kirika, please don't blame miss Madoka like that. She wasn't doing it on purpose. She was controlled by the Jewel Seeds," Oriko tried to calm Kirika down.

"Why didn't you all understand that I didn't tried to kill her! I've only killed witches and saved magical girls while searching for more Jewel Seeds! That's all I did! I'm the one who controlled the Jewel Seeds and not the opposite!" Madoka argued.

"Oi, what's going on here? I don't understand a bit on this situation," Kyoko said.

"Me neither," Alice said. Suddenly all of heard voices inside their head, just like how Kyuubey communicate with them.

{{You've became unstable, Madoka... We had to separate you from us... As for you questions, it's true that you've killed your family, magical girls and absorbed witches, just like your friends told you}}

"Eh? T-that's not true? If it's true then why..." Madoka trailed off as her mind suddenly recalled various memories, particularly about some magical girls that she killed. her family's death and the witches she abosorbed.

{{We assume you've regained your memories by now}}

"NOOOOOOOO!" Madoka let out an insane scream, trying to deny every memories that she recalled especially memories of her killing her own family. "NOOOOOO! MOTHER! FATHER! TATSUYA!"

"Shamal!" Hayate called. Shamal nodded and as she quickly casted a sleeping spell that Patchouli taught her, Madoka instatly went into a deep slumber. Homura and Sayaka embraced Madoka firmly with tears flowing across their cheeks. The two of them wiped leftover tears at the edge of her eyes.

Reimu and the others also started to show sympathize at Madoka after they saw her broke. Even Kirika who was holding a grudge at Madoka suddenly decided to forgive her as she remembered her own past without a reason.

{{It's a pity that I didn't managed to completely control her in the end. I hope you don't mind about that matter, Kyuubey}}

"Kyuubey...?" Mami muttered before she looked around. She saw Kyuubey was sitting on top of large debris not too far away from them. It seemed that he was witnessing everything that had happened. Everyone looked at the white creature that did not even move, but wagging his tail from side to side.

"It seems you all are able to save Madoka," Kyuubey said.

"Kyuubey! You finally showed up!" Kyoko growled.

"I'm merely show my concern about Madoka," Kyuubey said.

"The question is, why now? Why didn't you appear after what had happened last night?" Patchouli asked.

"You're concerned about Madoka because you want something from her!" Homura said.

"Just like Homura said, your appearance at this moment have something to do with what the Jewel Seeds had said," Zafira said.

{{After Kyuubey saw one of us and Madoka for the first time he had intended to help gathering all of us. In exchange we provide him something he refered to an unlimited energy}}

"It's just like the Jewel Seeds said. Since both Madoka and the Jewel Seeds had more potential to continuously release large amount of energy if they are together, I've decided to help her gathered the Seeds. But since the Seeds didn't managed to take full control of her which resulted they separated themselves from her, the energy emmited from the Seeds alone are reduced to half," Kyuubey explained. "It's a pity that we didn't managed to obtain all those energy."

"So you're the one who's behind all these additional mess!? You're the one who forced her do something she don't want to do!?" Reimu asked.

"I merely helped her fulfilling her own wishes," Kyuubey replied. All of the sudden his body was sliced to dozens of small dices. Everyone witnessed everything happened in just a few seconds.

"I'm tired of hearing you babbling!" Kirika said while swinging her claws, brushing some of Kyuubey's remains on it.

"You know he won't die from something like that," Sayaka said.

"Well, it's better to kill him rather than listening to his talk that is full of lies even though he's telling the truth," Marisa said before she looked at the Jewel Seeds. "Now then, let's take down those Seeds."

{{You won't be able to defeat us once we capture Walpurgistnach and obtain the last of us}}

Everyone could see that the progress bar in front of Walpurgistnach had reached ninety-seven percent. Reimu immediately flew and rushed towards the witch, hoping that she would be able to withdraw the Jewel Seed inside it.

"Except if I stop the process," Sakuya said as she suddenly appeared before she used her time manipulation ability once again to stop the time. She took out and declared the special spell card the moment she stopped in front of the cube that circled Walpurgistnach. As soon as the Jewel Seed appeared, Sakuya took it away and approached Nanoha before she resumed the time flow back to normal. "Here, Nanoha. You'd better keep this Jewel Seed quickly before those cubes manage to snatch it back."

"O-oh okay," Nanoha who was a little bit surprised by Sakuya's sudden appearance in front of her quickly commanded Raising Heart to capture the Seed.

"So... Why didn't you snatch the one inside Walpurgistnach as well as inside the other cubes while you're still at it?" Vita asked.

"And why didn't you use your ability to snatch all the Jewel Seeds?" Marisa asked. Nanoha, Sayaka and the rest wondered what Marisa had meant by Sakuya's ability. Now they thought about it, they still did not know Sakuya's true magic ability. They only assumed that Sakuya had the ability to duplicate knives. But since they saw Sakuya appeared and disappeared in an instant, they felt that Sakuya also had the ability to manipulate time.

"Oh my, I didn't think of that," Sakuya replied with a smile. Vita and Marisa let out a heavy sigh, which made Sakuya let out a small giggle. "Don't be too exaggerate. I can't perform the same spell card twice since Reimu made it that way."

"How did you know that?" Fate asked.

"Reimu put a number here, unlike normal spell cards," Sakuya showed the special spell card that she had used.

"I didn't notice that," Alice said. Everyone stared at Reimu with a blank look, which made Reimu felt really awkward.

"W-what!? It's not like I anticipated all these to happen! I only think that one-time spell card will be enough to get all the Jewel Seeds especially from miss Madoka," Reimu argued.

"But thank goodness you made a clever decision and created several spell cards for us," Hayate tried to complement so that Reimu would not get disheartened. Reimu only smiled to see Hayate tried hardest to cheer her up. Suddenly all of them could felt the wish and desire that Madoka made with the Jewel Seed. It was as if they were sucked into a different dimension.

(I want to save everyone)

"Is it me or did everyone just felt miss Madoka's desire?" Arf asked.

"I'm sure everyone felt it," Nanoha replied.

"What was that feeling?" Patchouli asked in an interested tone.

"It was as if her feeling was ours," Fate said.

{{HOW DARE YOU ALL TRY TO DISTURB US! NOW YOU ALL SHOULD PERISH!}}

With a sudden lour roar, the Jewel Seeds summoned hundreds of witches around it and immediately commanded the witches to attack Reimu and the others. Yuuno immediately created a barrier around Homura, Sayaka and Madoka since the two of them were still embracing her and were unable to engage in a sudden combat.

"So we're going to fight all those witches?" Kyoko sighed.

"Looks like we don't have any choice," Chrono said.

"What should we do with Walpurgistnach?" Sayaka asked.

"We'll handle all those witches," Alice replied before she unlocked her Grimoire, which made Reimu and her companions a little bit surprised. "Honestly I'm getting tired of this never-ending battles. If those Jewel Seeds could summon hundreds of witches, then I'll summon a thousand dolls."

"Hey, are you serious!? This is the first time you decide to use the magic inside your Grimoire," Marisa said in a slightly uneasy tone. Nanoha, Homura and the rest could feel unusual aura envoked around Alice.

"Alice..." Mami muttered in a concerned tone.

"Don't worry," Alice only smiled to ease Mami's concern. Cold atmosphere radiated as thousand dolls appeared around Alice as well as the others. "I've promised myself that I'll end this even if I have to use my Grimoire since this isn't Gensokyo. But rest assure, I'll only use seventy percent of my Grimoire's magic."

"Even so, we can feel seventy percent of your real magic is overwhelming," Shamal said.

"This magical power is certainly amongst Hayate's level," Chrono said. Reimu and Marisa noticed his statement and immediately glanced at Hayate.

"I guess you all have your reason for limiting your magical powers," Yuuno said.

"We'll explain everything regarding that matter later. For now we'll focus on these witches," Alice said before she commanded her dolls to engage with the witches.

"I guess we'd better get going," Vita said.

"Hayate, Fate and Nanoha, we'll handle all the witches," Signum said.

"Okay, be careful," Hayate said. The Wolkenritter and Arf immediately flew into the sky to fight the witches.

"We'll be assisting them," Sakuya and Patchouli said as the two of them flew and followed Signum and the others.

"Hey, not fair. What about Walpurgistnach and the Jewel Seeds?" Kyoko asked in an unsatisfied tone.

"We'll let you deal with it," Patchouli said with a smile while discarding the special spell card before it landed at Homura's hand. "I'll give you that card. I hope you can use it well this time."

"But I have to protect Madoka," Homura said.

"Miss Homura and Sayaka, I'll protect miss Madoka. You should help the others," Yuuno said.

"Go on. We won't let anything harm or use miss Madoka again," Chrono said as he could see Homura and Sayaka's unconvince face.

"Thank you, Chrono," Sayaka said with a smile before she released Madoka from her arms. Homura also fianlly decided to entrust Madoka's protection to Chrono and Yuuno. Reimu, Marisa, Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Homura, Mami, Sayaka, Kyoko, Oriko and Kirika immediately flew towards the Jewel Seeds, passing through hordes of witches and its familiars that were engaging with Signum and the rest.

"Be a good Jewels and let us capture you all," Fate said.

{{YOU ALL THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT US! YOU SEEM TO FORGOT THAT WALPURGISTNACH STILL HAVE ONE OF US INSIDE IT! THANKS TO KYUUBEY, WE CAN CONTROL THE WITCH AT EASE!}}

"Kyuubey again!? He's so stubborn!" Sayaka said in an angry tone.

"He's too dedicated to make Madoka a witch. His actions are truly unforgivable," Hayate said.

"Whoa, Hayate is getting serious," Marisa said.

"Hayate was already isn't in favor for Kyuubey the first time she met him at the mansion. I think that Kyuubey's action had made her angry," Nanoha said.

"Walpurgistnach had already weakened due to our fight earlier. I'm going to use Ragnarok Breaker to defeat it but it'll take time for me to fully charged it. I need everyone's help to divert its attention," Hayate said. "Nanoha, can you retrieve the Jewel Seed from the witch before I bombard it?"

"Yes," Nanoha replied.

"What's a breaker?" Mami asked Fate.

"A breaker is our strongest magic spells. Since Hayate is far more powerful than me and Nanoha, I think she'll be able to eliminate Walpurgistnach," Fate replied.

"So why didn't she use it earlier? We could've avoid endless fighting with the Walpurgistnach," Kyoko said.

"Since a breaker magic spell consume almost all of our energy, we need to weaken an enemy first to make sure our breaker could defeat it. It'll be a bad thing if Walpurgistnach can sustain the breaker," Nanoha said before she aimed Raising Heart at Walpurgistnach, getting ready to fire the capturing spell. All of them suddenly felt that Walpurgistnach slowly gained its strength.

"Everyone, I think the Jewel Seeds are channeling its energy to Walpurgistnach. Some of you need to capture the Seeds," Oriko warned.

"Let me deal with it first," Homura said before she froze the time. The moment she was near one of the cubes, she immediately touched it with the special spell card and declared the card as she unfroze the time. The moment she snatched the Seed she used her ability once again to 'disappear' before she appeared in front of Fate. Fate immediately retrieved the Seed and stored it inside Bardische. Once again all of them could feel Madoka's desire through the Seed.

(I want to eliminate evil)

"Madoka..." Sayaka muttered after she felt Madoka's desire. Everyone felt that they began to understand Madoka's wishes bit by bit, although it was still their personal speculation.

"Seven more to go," Fate said.

"Everyone watch out! The Jewel Seeds will cast countless silver needles from above us in five seconds! We all should put up our shields because there's no way we'll be able to dodge it! The attack will last in about three seconds!" Oriko warned as she activated her clairvoyance. Everyone immediately put up their shield to block off the incoming projectiles.

Just like Oriko said, the silver needles came down as if it was raining hard and stopped after three seconds. Seeing that Oriko was a hinderance, one of the cubes tried to stabbed her from behind. But Kyoko and Kirika saw the cube and immediately blocked the attack.

"Thank you," Oriko said.

"You're so careless about your own safety," Kyoko sighed.

"I apologize for that. I had to focus on my clairvoyance," Oriko said.

"You're really hopeless. I guess I'll have to protect you from any attack while you're focusing on your clairvoyance magic," Kyoko said with a sigh.

"I am the one who will protect Oriko," Kirika tried to be competetive. Kyoko only let out another sigh without saying anything.

"Oriko, you should use telepathic communication to warn us so that the Jewel Seeds won't be able to hear you. The Jewel Seeds had noticed that you could predict their actions," Vita adviced through telepathic communication.

"O-okay, I forgot about that," Oriko said. Since Oriko had continuously warned everyone from time to time through telepathic communication as well as coordinating them, Reimu and the others were able to evade every familiars and serpents that were deployed by Walpurgistnach.

Mami kept all the familiars, serpents and witches from Hayate while she was in process of completing her breaker to its fullest potential. Sayaka and Marisa continued to distract and inflict damages to Walpurgistnach to make sure it could not recover from their early fight. Meanwhile Fate used Thunder Smasher to keep the course clear for Nanoha's captuning spell.

{{NO MATTER WHAT YOU ALL DO, WE WILL BE INVINCIBLE!}}

"You Jewel Seeds are bragging too much as if you all are the strongest being or whatever you all are," Reimu sighed before she took out her spell card. "We'll show you that we can take you and all these witches down. Spell Card! Divine Sign: Fantasy Seal!"

Colourful orbs formed around Reimu before she shot the orbs at Walpurgistnach as well as other witches, familiars and serpents. She had increased her orbs' strength to its fullest strength that it caused all of the remaining witches, familiars and serpents to flinch and stun, making it easy for Signum and the others to eliminate each of it.

"Raising Heart!" Nanoha called her device. Raising Heart blinked as it shot small pink beam before something like a ribbon wrapped around Walpurgistnach the moment it was hit by the beam. "Lyrical! Magical! Capturing the Jewel Seed X!"

(I want to change)

"Hayate!" Nanoha gave Hayate the cue.

"Ragnarok Breaker!" Hayate shouted as she hit the magic circle in front of her with her staff. Three largest spheric manas that Reimu and her companions as well as Homura and her friends had ever seen immdiately burst into three white large and powerful beams. Walpurgistnach slowly dissolved into unseen particles while it still let out its creepy laugh as it tried to withstand the bombardment. As soon as the magic dies down, everyone could see large holes on the ground had replaced the witch's position. Mami immediately supported Hayate who was getting tired after releasing the magic. "Thank you, Mami."

"We're the one who should thank you, Hayate," Mami said. "I'm sorry that you're the one who had to use your magical power to its fullest potential just to defeat Walpurgistnach and helped us magical girls."

"That's okay. I just don't want tragic events continue to occur," Hayate replied with a smile.

"You all always never failed to impress me," Patchouli said as she watched from far away.

"I agree. I've never seen such powerful magic in my entire life," Kyoko said.

"I guess every world has its own uniqueness," Reimu said before she looked at the Jewel Seeds. "So? How about it? Are you Jewel Seeds going to surrender?"

The Jewel Seeds did not say anything as it started to disperse, hoping that they could escaped from everyone. But their efforts proved futile as several chain bind formed and restricted their movements.

"Thanks to Oriko, we know that you all were going to retreat," Yuuno said.

"Reimu, we'll leave the rest to you and the others while we clean up the remaining witches and familiars," Arf said.

"Well then. It seems there's only six of you Jewel Seeds left," Marisa said as she took out the special spell card and pressed it against one of the cubes contained the Jewel Seed. As soon as she declared the spell card, she took the Jewel Seed that was seperated from the cube and handed it over to Fate who immediately stored the Seed inside her device.

(I want to become strong)

"If only you're a person, I could've kill you along with Kyuubey," Kyoko said as she declared the special spell card. Nanoha retrieved the Jewel Seed as soon as it was visible.

(I want to have lots of magical powers)

"I don't know what you're all planning to do with miss Madoka, but I believe that part of the tragedies that happened was because you all appeared, Fate said as she captured and stored another Jewel Seed inside her device.

(I want to become someone useful)

"I just hope that I could destroy you all but I'll let Nanoha and the others especially admiral Lindy decide what they should do with you all since they have more authority on Lost Logia," Sayaka said before she extract another Jewel Seed from its cube. Fate immediately retrieved the Jewel Seed without hesitate.

(I want to have lots of friends)

"I personally don't have any grudge against you, Jewel Seeds. But I have to stop you from causing anymore trouble," Nanoha said before she captured another Jewel Seed.

(I want to be with everyone I loved)

"All of your bragging earlier are just no more than just a naive talk, as if you could do as you please. Now you will feel how it's like to be defeated," Reimu said.

{{Wait!}}

"As if I'm going to wait and want to hear what you're going to say," Reimu said before she took out the last Jewel Seed from its cube. The moment Nanoha captured the last Jewel Seed and stored it inside Raising Heart, all of them felt Madoka's last desire. Each time they felt her desire they felt they themselves were Madoka herself, or at least they were part of Madoka.

(I don't want to be alone)

"Ch.. One..." Chrono and the rest slowly snapped into reality as he heard Amy's voice through telepathic communication. "Chrono! Everyone! Can anyone hear me!?"

"I can hear you," Chrono replied.

"Thank goodness. I thought you all were in danger since not even one person responded to me," Amy said.

Chrono looked around him and saw Mami, Sayaka and Homura's tears flowed across their cheeks. Kyoko, Oriko and Kirika as well as Reimu, Nanoha and the rest were the only ones that did not shed a tear, although they still could not hide their griefs and frustrations as they were being sucked into their own feelings and memories that were mixed with Madoka's. Everyone did not know how long they were in such state.

"We're fine. We'll tell you details of it later on," Chrono said. Marisa noticed that Reimu was staring at Madoka for quite a time.

"Hey Reimu, what's wrong?" Marisa asked. Reimu did not say anything as she continued to look at Madoka who was still in a deep slumber with a calm face, as if she did not experienced tragic events in her life. The dark and cloudy sky had slowly cleared up, allowing sunlight to shimmer the ruined city. But the atmosphere had yet brightened up everyone's heart.


	21. Chapter 20

Hello. How are you?

It's been a year and few months since I first started writing this fanfiction, and now it has come to its end with the publishing of this final chapter. Looking back at previous chapters and skimmed through it, I believe I can do better than before.

I'm sorry that this chapter is longer than the previous two chapters since I've included some explanations regarding some of the events that happened in the previous chapters. I hope I've covered all those events.

I've been trying to make the ending of this fanfic as bitter-sweet type ending, but I don't know if its bitter-sweet enough. So I hope it can catch everyone's heart a little bit and feel all the loneliness, happiness, joyfulness, sadness and other feelings that I hope that I can evoke inside your heart (^^;).

After this story, I'm thinking of writing a little sequel of some characters. But I don't know if I'll be able to write it soon.

Since I'm trying to improve my English writing skills through this fanfic (as well as improve my story writing skills), I hope anyone can make a review of anything regarding grammar etc.

Lastly, from the bottom of my heart, I hope my fanfic can evoke your feelings and imagination as you read through this final chapter so that you can truly feel and see Madoka, Reimu, Nanoha and the others somewhat alive inside your heart.

* * *

**Chapter 20: A New World, A New Life, A New Destiny**

Dozens of young girls gathered at a hall located at Mid-Childa while waiting for Lindy who was standing at a podium to begin her short speech. All of the, had been categorized into two group; the first group consisted of the girls whose soul had been released from the grief seed and had been put into a new body, and the second group consisted of the girls whose soul had been liberated from their soul gem and was put back into their body. Each group had a different colour tag to prevent them from mixing over when things started to go out of control. Reimu, Homura, Nanoha and the rest were also present at the hall, except the residents of Scarlet Mansion. Aya could not keep calm and always flew around to take lots of pictures with her camera.

Loud chattering as well as lots of mourning could be heard while female TSAB's members tried to ease the girls' grief. The chattering slowly dies down as the girls heard Lindy's voice that was finally getting started with the briefing.

"I apologize for keeping you all waiting," Lindy said.

"When we'll be able to return home!?" One of the girls who was in the first group suddenly asked in a depressed tone. Lindy shot a sympathized look at the girl and the other girls in the same group as her.

"I'm sorry... But since your parents and family members regarded that all of you had passed away I'm afraid that you all won't be able to return home except those who have not yet turned into a grief seed," Lindy tried to explain although she still found it hard to say it to them, especially since some of the girls in the first group were as young as ten years old.

"We... can't... go... home?" The other girl asked before she started crying, followed by the other girls. Even some of the girls in the second group also slowly shed their tears, wishing that they could help the girls who had become the most unfortunate victims by Kyuubey.

"We had agreed to provide a place for all of you to live in and everything will be covered by us. Some of the TSAB's members also agreed to adopt any girls who did not wish to live alone," Lindy said.

"How we wish that we can kill that Kyuubey!" The girl on the second group said in an angry and frustrated tone.

"About that..." Reimu said as she stood up from her seat and nodded at Lindy. Lindy nodded in return and immediately switched on the screen in front of everyone. All of them saw Remilia, Sakuya, Patchouli, Flandre as well as Nitori, Yukari and Ran who were at the Arthra.

"It's about time," Remilia said with her usual grin. While Reimu and the others wanted to let out a sigh, Nanoha and Sayaka felt happy to see Remilia was back to her usual self now that Flandre was unhurt after being absorbed by Madoka.

"So this is the rumored real life vampire," one of the TSAB's member whispered to her friends.

"They don't look that scary to me," whispered another.

"So, did you get those Kyuubeys?" Marisa asked.

"I was just about to start," Remilia said before she showed three Kyuubeys that were put inside a glass container. The hall suddenly dissolved in uproar the moment the girls saw Kyuubey. Everyone wished that they could kill him right at the moment.

"I don't understand why you're all so eager to kill me. I'm merely helping you all fulfill your wish," Kyuubey said as he watched the video communication screen.

"You'll understand after you're being sent to the afterlife," Sakuya said.

"One thing that I'm amazed is that you all can see me even though I've already tried to hide my presence," Kyuubey said.

"Never underestimate us TSABs and our technologies," Amy said.

"Anyone who have lots of magic knowledge will be able to dispel your magic," Patchouli said.

"Miss Remilia, we have arrived," Chrono said. Everyone in the hall as well as at the Arthra looked at another screen that had just popped up as it displayed a planet that was twenty times larger than earth.

"I wonder how you all managed to find my home planet," Kyuubey said.

"We were able to pinpoint your home planet since it radiated the same energy as you released in this glass container," Yuuno said.

"Even so, it's not like you'll be able to destroy all of us," Kyuubey said.

"I wonder about that," Yukari said as she opened up a gap. Nitori immediately sent her helicam before another screen popped up, showing countless Kyuubeys that lived at the planet.

"Whoa, that's quite an amount of Kyuubey. There's no way we can destroy him without destroying the entire planet," Sayaka said as she watched the new popped up screen from the hall.

"You don't have to worry about that," Alice said.

"What do you mean?" Signum asked.

"You'll see," Reimu said. Nanoha, Homura and the others continued to watch the screen while wondering what Reimu and her companions were talking about.

"I don't think Arc-En-Ciel will be able to destroy all of those Kyuubeys," Amy said.

"You don't have to worry about that," Remilia said before she patted Flandre's shoulder. "Flan, are you ready?"

"I'm always ready," Flandre replied before she extended her arm at one of Kyuubey's body that was in the container. Everyone could see a sphere appeared at Flandre's hand before she rested the sphere on her palm. She poked it several times while humming happily.

"Can you feel it? Can you feel something inside your body?" Flandre asked while curving a big creepy smile.

"How did you know that?" Kyuubey asked in a curious tone.

"That's because I have your 'eye'," Flandre replied.

"Eye?"

"Simply put, an 'eye' is something that you can also refer to a core of a living being," Patchouli explained.

"And when I do this..." Flandre trailed off as she squeezed the sphere tightly with her hand. One of the Kyuubeys inside the container suddenly exploded, making a popping sound just like when someone popped a balloon using a needle. The other two Kyuubeys that witnessed their other body exploded tried to conceal their presence and escaped from the contained. But all their efforts proved futile.

"It's useless for you to try to escape because I already had your 'eye'," Flandre said with a sadistic laugh as she extended her arm that had Kyuubey's 'eye'. Once again everyone could hear the popping sound as Kyuubey exploded the moment Flandre squeezed his 'eye'.

"What's with her magic!? She's insanely powerful," Kyoko said.

"I'm more concern about miss Flandre because she's laughing too much," Mami said.

"Well that's Flandre for ya," Marisa said. "Oh by the way, that's not her magic. That's her natural ability. And don't worry too much about her. Flan's always like that."

"So that means she can use it whenever she wants without casting a spell?" Nanoha asked.

"Yup, she'll just use it if she wants to. Just like how we have the ability to run, we'll just use it without doing anything like chanting spells."

"Every one of us has our own abilities. But we wouldn't use it carelessly because we've been bounded by the spell card rules. If not, Gensokyo will be in a chaos by now," Alice explained. Nanoha, Homura and the others looked at Reimu and her companions without asking anything further before they continued to watch the video communication.

"So you do have emotions," Remilia said with a giggle.

"I'm merely tried to escape for my survival," Kyuubey denied. Patchouli and Sakuya let out a sigh after hearing Kyuubey's excuse.

"I can see that your 'merely' is just an excuse," Sakuya said.

"Remi, it's time," Patchouli said. Remilia nodded with a grin and looked at Flandre who understood her big sister. Flandre immediately extended and pointed her arms at Kyuubey's home planet before its 'eye' appeared on her hand.

"It seems you'll be making a big mistake. Without us, the universe won't last for long," Kyuubey said.

"Like we care what you think!" Homura stood up and shouted, much to surprise everyone. "Even if the universe has only a thousand years left, it's still enough for all of us human beings as well as other living beings to live happily! You're the only being that is unsatisfied with the current situation! You just go to hell!"

"Homura, please calm down. Okay?" Hayate pleaded in a concerned tone. Homura took a few deep breaths before she sat back down.

"Nice job there. You're finally able to say everything inside your heart," Reimu said with a smile.

"T-thank you," Homura stuttered. She felt embarrassed to see everyone was looking at her, including Remilia and the others who were at the Arthra.

"Heh, so there you have it," Flandre said before she squeezed the planet's 'eye'. Everyone could see Kyuubey's home planet burst and exploded into small debris, although its size might be still big if someone looked at it close-up. The video that was recorded live from the helicam fade into black as the device was also destroyed by the explosion, making Nitori a little bit sad to see her favorite toy had gone forever.

"Analyzing and searching for remaining living Kyuubey," Amy said as she continuously hit the keyboard in front of her. After a few minutes she spoke again, "Not even one living Kyuubey survived."

"Does that mean... Kyuubey is not around anymore? He's dead... right?" One of the ex-magical girls that were present at the hall asked.

"You should be able to see that Kyuubey that we've put inside the container didn't move anymore," Yuuno replied.

"You're right. But... why doesn't he move anymore?" Another girl asked.

That's because Kyuubey can be considered as not a race but a system that are originated from one being," Patchouli's explanation made almost everyone looked at her in either confused or blank expression in their face.

"It means every Kyuubey that we've met were connected and controlled by the one and only Kyuubey. They're not a group of individuals that had different thoughts," Fate explained further. She noticed that some still looked confused to fully understand her explanation.

"You can imagine that you're able duplicate yourself and you can control all of your duplicates. That's how Kyuubey's nature was," Lindy explained.

"Oh, so that what it means," Another ex-magical girl said. The hall immediately filled with chattering amongst the ex-magical girls. Some of them started to smile while some of them cried with full of happiness. They felt satisfied to hear that Kyuubey had forever disappeared, never to return to haunt neither them nor any young girls that had never met him.

...

"Man, I'm really tired," Marisa said while stretching her arms. All of them had arrived at the Arthra after the tiresome events at the hall earlier.

"You're always tired no matter what you do," Sayaka said with a sigh. Marisa quickly shot an annoyed look at Sayaka.

"Well, all of us can't really say that we not tired," Hayate said.

"Hayate, are you feeling all right now?" Mami asked.

"Yup, I've been resting a lot after firing the breaker magic spell. So it's not a big deal," Hayate replied with a smile.

"Your magic is so powerful. I think even my spark won't be able to defeat your breaker," Marisa said.

"Don't say that, Marisa. Although my breaker is powerful but you have the most advantage because you're able to conjure countless projectiles. Moreover my magic is not that strong, especially since I'm still trying to learn a lot about magic," Hayate said.

"But you still have your binding magic spell."

"Binding spell is only effective if a target is not moving or if we can aim it perfectly against moving target. So you're still having the advantage over me," Hayate said. Marisa felt she wanted to hug Hayate for her sweet and humble demeanor. But she had to resist herself when she saw Vita shot a jealous look at her.

"So what are your thoughts about Mid-Childa?" Nanoha asked Reimu and her companions as well as Homura and her friends.

"It's a wonderful place," Alice replied.

"But it's not as good as Gensokyo right?" Fate asked.

"I don't really like to compare your world with ours," Alice replied.

"But it's a great thing to see that all the people in Mid-Childa accepted magic as a normal part of their lives," Mami said.

"Sadly we couldn't go and visit every interesting place," Oriko said.

"You all can visit Mid-Childa anytime you want," Lindy said.

"Really?"

"Sure. Just let me or Nanoha know if you all want to go there again."

"Okay."

"It's been two days huh," Reimu suddenly muttered.

"Are you still worried about miss Madoka?" Lindy asked Reimu.

"I'm sure everyone is worry about her since she always threw a tantrum and shouting endlessly everytime she woke up after the sleeping spell wore off," Oriko said.

"I feel sorry about her. It's not like she wanted to kill her parents," Shamal said in a sad tone.

"Her traumas may have made her to hallucinating of her parents," Lindy said. As they were walking, one of the Arthra's medical staff came to them in a rush. Lindy immediately knew something had happened and quickly ran towards the infirmary room.

"What happened?" Signum asked.

"Miss Madoka had woken up and she was throwing everything around," The medical staff replied while huffing.

"Madoka!" Homura was the first person who started running, followed by Reimu, Nanoha and the others. Since Patchouli had liberated Homura soul gem, she did not possessed her time magic abilities anymore. Even Mami and Kyoko's soul gem had been liberated as well to prevent previous incidents from occuring for the second time.

As soon as they arrived at the infirmary room, they could see Lindy had already calmed Madoka down; hugging her firmly like a mother would to her child. Madoka kept crying and snorting while buying her face into Lindy's chest, trying to let out her feelings.

"Admiral Lindy! You're bleeding!" Nanoha said in a surprised tone. All of them assumed that Lindy was injured by something that Madoka threw. Lindy only smiled without saying anything, as if she did not feel anything from her injury. She did not want anyone to put blame on Madoka for behaving such way. Shamal immediately summoned her magic device and instantly healed Lindy's wound.

Reimu immediately left the infirmary room without a word. Everyone except Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and Oriko thought that she was annoyed with Madoka's behaviour. But no one actually knew how Reimu actually felt at that time.

...

Nanoha and the rest entered the Arthra's control room, leaving Lindy and Madoka at the infirmary room. The whole crew member present at the room seemed to be excited at something as they were starring at the main screen. Nanoha, Signum, Marisa and Alice immediately recognized the view being displayed on the screen.

"Hey Reimu, what's going on here?" Marisa asked.

"It's just like what you saw," Reimu replied.

"It's funny to see everyone's confused face," Yukari said.

"Ah miss Yukari, how is your injury?" Nanoha asked.

"I'm feeling better now, dear. Thank you for your concern," Yukari said while moving her arm that had already fully healed.

"That's good," Nanoha said with a smile.

"It seems you're involved in this," Alice said as she looked at Yukari.

"Oh, it's all Reimu's idea," Yukari said with a small giggle. Marisa and Alice looked at Reimu who only glanced at everyone.

"Are you sure about this?" Marisa asked. However Reimu still kept silent and did not answer Marisa's question.

...

Everyone who set foot at a place they headed for the first time were fascinated by the views lies in front of their eyes as well as those that surrounded them. All of them could see several fairies flew around, while some were having a spell card battle with a woman who had a short green hair and wore a checkered vest and long skirt.

"Welcome to Gensokyo!" Aya said in a happy and excited tone while taking dozen of pictures of Gensokyo's guests.

"Amazing. So this is Gensokyo," Yuuno said. "If only there's a library or something that I can learn about this world."

"You can visit to the Scarlet Mansion and we'll let you read some of our books," Remilia said.

"Really?" Yuuno asked.

"We'll be waiting," Remilia said as she and the rest of Scarlet Mansion's residents accended to the sky and left the shrine.

"I'll be leaving. Please look forward towards my next Bunbunmaru Newspaper next thing in the morning," Aya said before she flew into the sky at a fast speed.

"She's really fast," Nanoha said in an astonished tone.

"That's a tengu for ya," Marisa said.

"She's really annoying. Why did she bother to go the outside world before?" Reimu sighed. She and the others realized that it was due to Aya being absorbed by Madoka that she had access to ancient youkai's language.

"She wanted to take exclusive pictures of us at the outside world, that's why," Marisa replied.

"Too bad she was absor-" Kirika did not managed to finish her sentence as Oriko quickly covered her mouth. Oriko did not want Madoka to remember everything that had happened.

"You're still insensitive as always," Vita sighed.

"Shut up," Kirika said in an annoyed tone.

"I'll be going for now," Yukari said without waiting for anyone to reply to her as she disappeared into her gap.

"Me too. My work here is done. See ya all," Nitori said as a propeller popped out from her bag and she flew away, leaving everyone with a wave and a smile.

"Let's head inside," Reimu said as she looked at everyone. She could see that Madoka was clinging tightly at Lindy, never attempted to let go of her. Everyone could not blame her for having a trauma and was afraid of them. They guessed that Madoka was able to stay calm around Lindy since she showed a motherly figure towards her.

Everyone sat down on the floor as soon as they entered the Hakurei Shrine while waiting for Reimu to serve some tea for them. Although the living room was not too spacious everyone still managed to stay relaxed.

"Here's some tea," Reimu said as she put down a tray full of cups and a teapot.

"So what are we doing here?" Vita asked.

"Nothing in particular," Reimu replied before she took a sip of her tea.

"It's her little habit to have a tea after solving an incident," Alice said.

"But I feel like we're being a little bit overcrowded," Mami said.

"Don't worry about it it. Like I always said, the more the merrier," Marisa said with a grin.

"Thank you for inviting us to your shrine, miss Reimu," Lindy said.

"You're welcome," Reimu replied before she took another sip of her tea.

"Still, I'm amazed that the spiritual power around here is very strong," Shamal said.

"I believe we haven't encountered a place like this in Mid-Childa or any other world in other dimension," Chrono said.

"But it's quite peaceful here," Oriko said.

"Although there's quite a lot of malicious intent around here," Kirika statement ruined the relaxed atmosphere they were having at the moment.

"You really couldn't read the mood here," Vita sighed. Kirika only curved a big annoying grin without saying anything. While they were enjoying their tea all of them heard several footsteps coming from outside the shrine, slowly and casually approaching them.

"Hello there," Yuyuko greeted as she, Yukari, Youmu and Ran met Reimu and the others.

"Good afternoon miss Yuyuko, miss Youmu and miss Ran," Hayate was the first one who greeted back, followed with the others.

"Yo, what's up?" Marisa asked.

"Reimu invited us to her usual little tea party," Youmu replied.

"Indeed," Yuyuko said with a giggle. She looked at Madoka who quickly hid herself behind Lindy's back, still feeling afraid at everyone. Yuyuko only smiled without saying a word before she gestured her hand, calling someone who seemed to be hiding beside the shrine's wall. Homura and Sayaka gasped in surprise the moment they saw the persons that Yuyuko called.

"Madoka," Sayaka called. Madoka did not respond to her.

"Madoka, please look," Homura said. However Madoka did not respond nor wanted to take a look.

"Madoka."

Madoka slowly poked out her head from Lindy's back as she heard a familiar voice and widened her eyes the moment she saw the newcomers. She slowly stood up and walked towards the persons. Her mouth opened and closed several times, trying to say something. But no words came out from her mouth

"So... y..." Madoka tried to speak. Once again she could not manage to do so as she burst into tears, wailing and snorting. She could not suppress her feeling anymore before she fell on her knees. But she gathered her strength to convey everything that was inside her heart, repeating the same words over and over again. "So... rry... I'm so... sorry... I'm so sorry... Mama... Papa... Tatsuya... I'm so... sorry..."

"Shhh," Madoka's mother - Junko - immediately hugged Madoka without hesitated. Although Madoka felt her mother was cold as an ice, but she could feel the warmth of her kindness. Despite Junko tried to calm Madoka down, Madoka still kept repeating the same word again and again.

"Madoka, it's not your fault," Madoka's father - Tomohisa - said.

"Not fault, not fault," Madoka's little brother Tatsuya said in his usual cheerful manner.

"But... But..." Madoka tried to deny while she continued to snort. "I... killed... mama, papa and Tatsuya... I... remembered it clearly..."

"That's not true," Junko quickly denied.

"You were only trying to save all of us," Tomohisa said.

"But..." Madoka still tried to argue.

"Miss Lindy and everyone else, you'll believe what we'll be telling you right?" Junko asked.

"Yes, we will," Lindy replied. At the same time, she was wondering how Junko knew her name despite that was the first time they met each other. She assumed that it was either Yukari or Yuyuko who told Junko.

"You'll believe mama right, Madoka?" Junko asked with a warm smile. Madoka was hesitated to reply but she gave a nod. Junko took a deep breath and looked at Madoka with a calm expression before she started explaining everything. "During the evening before the incident, you came home with your cheerful face as always. But I could see something different in you. I've tried asking you but you didn't tell me anything. It was during that time several magical girls came and ambushed all of us. They said something called Kyuubey told them that you killed it and other magical girls just before you returned home."

"But... I... I didn't... kill magical girls. I was only trying to save them," Madoka denied. "I only killed Kyuubey. But... I didn't kill any magical girls."

"Yes, I know," Junko said. "They were being tricked by Kyuubey but they didn't know that. That's why they believed it. You transformed into your magical girl mode and tried to stop them. Papa and I honestly were surprised to see your attitude also changed. But you were outnumbered by them and they managed to pin you down. They tried to kill you right in front of our eyes."

"So papa and mama tried to save you," Tomohisa said.

"Yeah, but I think we had a bad luck," Junko said. "Tatsuya was killed since he was also considered a threat."

"Why did they do such thing!? Why did they killed people who were not involved with magical girls' matter!?" Homura muttered in an angry tone.

"They're really coward!" Mami said.

"It must've been because Kyuubey lied something about you and your family," Signum said.

"I believe so," Junko said. "I don't know what that thing told those poor magical girls, but it managed to deceive them. Before my vision completely fades into black I could hear Madoka screamed, calling our names. Then I could see something like a diamond flew towards her and entered her body. That's when I completely engulfed into darkness before the three of us woke up and saw the netherworld."

"It's... my fault. If only I didn't picked up the Jewel Seed, all of those wouldn't happened," Madoka said as she continued to snort. Junko patted Madoka's head the moment she heard Madoka started to cry, apologizing over and over again.

"Miss..." Yuuno tried to ask a question but he suddenly trailed off as he did not know Junko and Tomohisa's name.

"Oh pardon me, I think we forgot to introduce ourselves," Junko said with a smile.

"I'm Kaname Tomohisa, Madoka's father and this is my wife, Kaname Junko. This little guy here is Tatsuya," Tomohisa said while he gestured his hand at himself, Junko, and Tatsuya. Reimu and the others immediately introduced themselves. "It seems you have a question, am I right?"

"Yes," Yuuno replied. "Miss Junko, you said that there's no changes in miss Madoka before those magical girls that assaulted your family came right?"

"Yes," Junko answered.

"Does that mean she didn't show any aggresive behaviour?"

"No, but she did showed such behaviour after she changed into her magical girl mode. But despite such changes she didn't do anything bad other than trying to drive those magical girls away."

"So does that mean she didn't hurt you even though she's in her magical girl mode?" Chrono who seemed to aware of the situation asked. The others also started to notice something strange about the discussion.

"No, she didn't," Tomohisa replied.

"Sister is so cool," Tatsuya said. Madoka held her little brother's cold hand the moment she heard him. She was unsure whether her little brother realized that he had already passed away.

"So that means miss Madoka really wasn't being controlled by the Jewel Seeds," Alice said.

"But why couldn't she remember everything?" Kyoko asked.

"Even what she said and what miss Junko said are contradicting. Man, it's getting more confusing," Marisa said.

"I think I can explain that," Hayate said. "I don't know if this is a correct theory, but the Jewel Seeds might had the ability to alter and manipulate miss Madoka's memories."

"Just like Hayate had just explained, that might have been the case. While miss Madoka was able to get a hold of the Jewel Seeds magical properties, the Seeds on the other hand were able to do something like altering her memories and took control of her for a period of time if something bad was bound to happen to her," Yuuno explained.

"So it's like the Jewel Seeds acted like a switch would only control miss Madoka for a period of time before it alter her memories, then turned off after it did its job," Oriko said.

"Exactly."

"It might've also been because Kyuubey had made a deal with the Jewel Seeds," Zafira said. "The Jewel Seeds did mention something about it'll give an unlimited energy for Kyuubey in exchange for Kyuubey helped gathering all of the Seeds."

"Too bad for him though. His own actions were backfired at himself," Reimu said.

"Well, serves him right. He deserved to die anyway," Kirika said.

"But why did the Jewel Seeds separated itselves from miss Madoka if it could control her?" Alice asked.

"Probably it's because miss Madoka had forced herself to remember everything before the Jewel Seeds manipulate and alter her memories for the last time," Chrono said.

"So don't blame yourself for what had happened, okay? None of those were your fault," Nanoha tried to cheer Madoka up with a smile. Madoka only glanced at Nanoha with a slight nod that not even a person could notice.

"Madoka, you're so blessed to have such good friends," Tomohisa said before he looked at everyone. "I know that Madoka had caused a lot of trouble but I hope that you all will forgive her and be her friends, supporting her from now on."

"We won't hold a grudge against her. She was merely being used by the Jewel Seeds and Kyuubey," Signum said.

"She's not at fault since she didn't know about the Jewel Seeds in the first place," Vita said.

"That's true," Arf said.

"Plus it'll be bad for our heart just from trying to hate and despise someone," Marisa said.

"We'll be her friends so you don't have to worry, mr. Tomohisa," Oriko said.

"It's good to hear that. I couldn't show my gratitude enough," Tomohisa said.

"Mama? Papa? Tatsuya? You're... all... leaving?" Madoka asked as her tears started to swell again. Junko and Tomohisa looked at Yuyuko who was enjoying her tea.

"They can stay for a little while longer until the end of the day, or it'll be not worth hearing Shiki Eiki's lectures for bringing them to the realm of the living," Yuyuko said with a smile.

"Just like miss Yuyuko said," Junko said before she looked at Yuyuko again. "We apologize for troubling you for bringing us here."

"It's okay. Afterall, Reimu was the one who proposed this idea. So she'll be the only one who will be lectured mostly by Shiki Eiki," Yuyuko said with a giggle.

Everyone looked at Reimu with a bit surprised expression. All this time they thought that she did not care about Madoka, but it turned out that she was willing to take the trouble to let Madoka met her deceased family for the last time. Reimu only sighed, indicating that she did not want to reply to any question regarding her actions.

"Miss Lindy, can I ask you a favor?" Junko asked.

"Certainly," Lindy replied. Since she was also a mother, she could feel that Junko was going to ask for something that she herself had been thinking.

"Can you take care of Madoka for us?" Junko asked.

"Yes, I will. I'll make sure that miss Madoka will have a happy life," Lindy replied without hesitated.

"It seems what he said about you was true," Junko said with a smile.

"He?" Lindy was puzzled before her eyes widened the moment she saw a person appeared and approached them. Even Chrono seemed speechless despite he managed to keep his face calm as usual. "D-dear!?"

"It seems you two are doing well," Lindy's husband - Clyde - said. Everyone could see that Clyde was really identical to Chrono. However Clyde had less serious expression than him.

"But how-"

"Since the three parallel worlds had merged together, the netherworld had been united into one. So when Reimu was looking the name list of the souls she came across your husband's name. That's why she invited him over here," Yukari said.

"Stop it, Yukari. I only made the invitation. Nothing more and nothing less," Reimu said.

"Oh but you're the one who insisted to bring them over here," Yukari said.

"That's right. Even thought Shiki Eiki will lecture you later on, I bet she'll pour her anger at us too," Youmu said.

"Thank you so much for doing this, miss Reimu," Lindy said. Reimu did not say anything beside giving a nod.

"So how are you feeling, dear?" Lindy asked.

"I'm feeling great although it's very hectic everyday even in the netherworld," Clyde replied before he looked at Chrono. "I'm sorry I left you in your an early age. It must've been tough for you."

"Not at all. You're only trying to protect everyone, father," Chrono said with a smile.

"It's good to hear that. I'm glad you've become a great boy," Clyde said with a small laugh.

"He's been teaching me a lot. I can guarantee that he'll become a great man," Sayaka suddenly said, much to surprise everyone even Chrono.

"Oh..." Clyde trailed off as he stared at Sayaka. "What's your name?"

"Eh? I-I'm Miki Sayaka," Sayaka stuttered.

"Well then Sayaka, I wish you good luck," Clyde said as he patted Sayaka's head with a smile. Sayaka became embarrassed to hear Clyde said that. Lindy who had already realized Sayaka's feeling towards Chrono also smiled.

"Good luck Sayaka," Lindy said.

"E-eh!? Not you too, Admiral," Sayaka's face became much redder than ever.

"Heh, I can sense something funny," Kyoko smirked.

"Shut up!" Sayaka said. She constantly looked at Chrono who seemed to be clueless about the matter. Sayaka pouted before she drank her tea without looking at anyone.

"Mama, can we talk a lot more?" Madoka asked.

"Yes. I'll listen to everything you want to tell me whether it's a good thing or bad," Junko replied as she hugged Madoka. For the first time ever, everyone saw a smile on Madoka's face as she continued to talk about lots of things.

...

"I guess it's time to leave," Clyde said.

"Yes, I agree," Tomohisa said. He and Junko patted Madoka's head and hugged her as they noticed her started to show sadness in her eyes.

"Don't be sad. Even though we're apart from you, we'll always be alive inside your heart," Junko cheered Madoka up. Madoka could not respond as she started to sob.

"Sister, don't cry. Smile," Tatsuya said in his cheerful tone. Madoka took Tatsuya by hand and slowly pulled him towards her. She hugged her little brother for the last time and tried her hardest to curve a smile for him.

"Everyone, thank you for saving our daughter. I hope you forgive her and help her especially when she is having a hard time," Tomohisa once again made his final request for the last time.

"We won't let you down," Oriko said.

"We'll try our best to help miss Madoka with everything she need," Chrono said.

"Madoka, can you promise me one thing?" Junko asked as she connected her pinky finger with Madoka's.

"What... is it, mama?" Madoka hesitated.

"Promise me you won't hate everything about magic. In fact, I'll even allow you to further learn about it," Junko's statement made everyone a little bit surprised. But they did not try to oppose to the idea as they tried to listen to her further explanation. "After seeing that you've tried your best to protect all of us, I can feel your love and enthusiasm towards everything related about magic. After all, you do like to pretend you have some kind of magical abilities when you were a little girl. That's why I believe you should pursue that path as long you listen to what miss Lindy had to say."

Madoka felt embarrassed the moment Junko revealed her childish behavior when she was small. She felt that everyone was going to make fun of her. But she glanced at Reimu and the others and saw that not even one of them laughed at her.

"We'll help her to become a great mage," Yuuno spoke.

"That's right. Right now all of us are still learning and improving ourselves about everything regarding to magic. So she won't be lonely if she decides to learn with us," Nanoha said. Everyone looked at Reimu and her companions, waiting for their reply.

"I don't have any issue with helping miss Madoka if she want to learn about Gensokyo's magic," Alice said.

"Yup, that's right," Marisa said.

"T-thank y-you," Madoka stuttered as she showed her gratitude to her new friends. Junko and Tomohisa only smiled at Madoka and the others. Everyone then suddenly saw Lindy and Clyde gave a quick kiss to each other. Even though they knew that Lindy and Clyde were husband and wife, they felt embarrassed and awkward to watch the romantic scene right in front of their eyes.

"Reimu, your face is bright red," Homura whispered as she noticed her face.

"Be quiet," Reimu quickly covered her face with her sleeve.

"I guess scene like that isn't suitable for us," Kyoko said.

"You're such a kid," Vita said.

"You're also a kid yourself."

"But I agree that we're too young for such view," Hayate said.

"Here, here. Let me close you youngsters' eyes for you," Arf said as she closed Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and Vita's eyes with her hands in turns.

"I'll be going now," Clyde said.

"Take care. I'll miss you," Lindy said with a smile.

"Take a good care of your mother for me, okay?" Clyde said as he looked at Chrono.

"I will, father," Chrono said.

"And good luck to you, Sayaka," Clyde said with a smile.

"E-eh!? A-ah, y-yeah. I-I'll try m-my best," Sayaka stuttered before her face turned red as she saw Chrono was looking at her.

"Miss Junko, I'm sorry. I'm the one who should be blamed for what had happened," Homura said.

"Everyone was not at fault," Junko said.

"I agree. Even I couldn't blame the thing called Kyuubey because it chose to do what it believed to be good although you all had proved it to be wrong," Tomohisa said.

"So I don't want to hear any one of you to blame yourselves nor other people, am I clear?" Junko asked in a strict tone.

"Y-yes," Homura, Mami and Sayaka immediately replied in surprised. Nanoha, Reimu and the rest only nodded in response.

"It's time," Yukari said as she opened up a gap. Yuyuko entered the gap with Youmu and Ran, followed by Clyde and Tomohisa.

"Sister, bye-bye," Tatsuya waved his hand. Madoka smiled as she waved back at him.

"Madoka," Junko called.

"Yes, mama?" Madoka asked.

"Smile, and keep smiling," Junko said. Madoka curved a big smile as she bid her last farewell at her deceased mother and little brother. As soon as the gap closed up, Madoka immediately fell on her knees.

"Madoka!" Homura tried to help Madoka stood up, but Lindy prevented her from doing so. Lindy slowly walked and stopped in front of Madoka, before she sat down and firmly embraced her.

"Miss Lindy, mama told me to smile," Madoka said as she slowly buried her face at Lindy's chest.

"You don't have to force yourself," Lindy said. Madoka finally started to let out a loud wail after she had suppressed her feelings for such a length of time. Homura, Sayaka and Mami also started to cry without a clear reason. It might have been because they felt how Madoka had felt.

Kyoko, Oriko and Kirika, Reimu, Nanoha and the rest only looked at them without saying anything. It was not due to them did not sympathize towards Madoka, but it was because they had been able to calm and control themselves from breaking themselves down. But they could not deny Madoka's desires and feelings had engraved deep inside their heart.

"Oh, it seems I came at a wrong time," Sakuya who had just arrived said.

"Yo, what brings you here?" Marisa asked.

"Mi'lady invited everyone to her banquet that will be held at the Scarlet Mansion. She hope that everyone can come, especially Nanoha and Sayaka," Sakuya said with a smile.

"It seems she have her eyes on you two," Alice said.

"Well... yeah... I guess," Nanoha said.

"It's not fair that she treat you two as her special guest. All of us also helped her rescuing her little sister," Kyoko said in an unsatisfied tone.

"I guess a lot had happened, right Nanoha?" Sayaka said as she looked at Nanoha.

"Yup," Nanoha smiled. The two of them had made Reimu and the others more curious about what had happened between them and Remilia.

"You'll be coming right?" Sakuya asked Madoka. Madoka was reluctant to answer Sakuya's question. She still felt guilty after she absorbed Flandre and was afraid that Remilia still held a grudge against her. "Don't worry. I've told mi'lady everything and she's not angry with you. In fact, she'll be happy to have you as her guest."

"Madoka, let's go," Homura persuaded Madoka. Madoka was still filled with anxiety that she looked at Lindy.

"It's not nice if you reject miss Remilia's invitation. I promise you that I'll keep you safe," Lindy said in a convincing tone.

"O-okay," Madoka nodded and said in a low voice.

"It's set then," Marisa said as she took out the teleport spell card from her pocket.

...

Everyone witnessed lots of youkais and other beings were chattering with each other as they were entering the Scarlet Mansion. But most of them stopped to talk to Nanoha, Madoka and their companions, asking a lot of questions.

"Wow, I didn't expect them to be so friendly," Hayate said after they managed to gather at the Scarlet Mansion's dining hall.

"Even though they're friendly I had to keep my eyes on them so that they won't do anything mischievous," Reimu sighed.

"It must've been tough for you right?" Fate asked.

"You can say that again," Reimu let out another sigh.

"It seems you all came," Remilia said with a smile as she and Patchouli approached Reimu, Nanoha, Madoka and the others.

"It'll be a disrespect to you if we don't accept your invitation," Lindy said. Remilia stared at Madoka who quickly hid behind Lindy.

"I hope you enjoy the food here, Madoka," Remilia said. Madoka poked out her head a little bit and nodded slightly. Remilia took Nanoha and Sayaka's hand and slowly led them to somewhere.

"Remilia, where are you taking us?" Sayaka asked.

"Flan wants to meet you two. She wants to thank you, and possibly wants you to play with her," Remilia said.

"Hey Remi, don't you let Flan do something funny to them," Alice said.

"I know that," Remilia said in an annoyed tone.

"Yuuno, I'll be leading you to the library if you want to have a visit," Patchouli said.

"I'll be coming over," Yuuno said.

"I'll have Sakuya prepare something for us to eat while we're at the library," Patchouli said. Yuuno nodded followed Patchouli from behind. "Everyone is welcome to join the two of us."

"We'll be there later on," Oriko said. Patchouli nodded with a smile before she and Yuuno left the dining hall. Just before everyone started to feel relaxed, they heard a girl shouted Reimu's name.

"HAKUREI REIMU!" The girl with a short green hair approached Reimu in a furious expression. She wore a dark blue, black and white dress with gold emblem and a ribbon with different colour on both sleeves. She wore a blue and white hat with a gold emblem in front and a red and white bow on the back. She also wore a pair of frilly socks wears and a pair of black shoes with a red bow on them. Everyone could see she was carrying something that looked like a shaped wood.

"You don't have to shout you know, Shiki Eiki. I'm not deaf," Reimu said.

"You brought some souls to the land of the living earlier! What were you thinking!? You know that something like that isn't forgivable and it's sinful no matter how much you look at it. I would've punish you if you're not the one who is responsible to keep the Great Hakurei Border stable," The girl - Shiki Eiki - preached Reimu without even taking a breath.

"Whoa, slow down," Marisa rebuked. Shiki Eiki immediately shot a glare at Marisa.

"You know that I did that not for fun," Reimu said.

"But that doesn't mean you can do as you like," Shiki Eiki said.

"U-um, I-I'm sorry that miss Reimu had to bring my deceased family to the land of the living just to let me met them for the last time. B-but she did all that because she don't want me to f-feel sad," Madoka gathered her courage and tried to explain to Shiki Eiki. Shiki Eiki stared at Madoka for a few seconds. She could clearly see her past and was able to immediately judged Madoka as clear good, despite everything that had happened to her and what she had done.

"I'll let this matter off just this once," Shiki Eiki said with a sigh. "But I'll warn you, Reimu. If I catch you doing something like this again, I'll have to punish you."

"Just bring it on," Reimu replied in a bored tone. Shini Eiki shot an annoyed look before she left Reimu, Nanoha, Madoka and the others.

"Reimu, who is Shiki Eiki exactly? What does she do?" Arf asked.

"She's a Yama whose job is to judge the dead and decide whether the dead will go to the Heaven, Hell, the Netherworld or get reincarnated," Reimu replied.

"Oh, I see. So that's why she's furious about you bringing over miss Madoka's family and Admiral Lindy's husband's soul."

"Yeah."

"We're sorry that you had to go through a lot of trouble for us," Lindy said.

"It's no big deal," Reimu said.

"But it's odd that she just left us after staring miss Madoka," Signum said.

"It must've been because she used her ability and judged miss Madoka as clear good. That's why she immediately decided to forget the problem," Marisa said.

"That's good to hear. I was getting worried that we'll be punished for meddling with her work," Shamal said.

"Don't worry, I won't let her harm you," Reimu said before she walked towards the dining table. "Well, let's fully enjoy our dinner while we're here."

"I agree," Kirika said as she grabbed a plate and immediately filled it with lots of foods. Everyone nearly sighed as they watched Kirika's child-like behaviour before all of them joined the banquet, while occasionally interacted with other Gensokyo's residents.

...

The clear blue sky had been painted in orange, creating a nostalgic and emotional feeling if a person decided to enjoy the quiet environment. Warm wind blew softly that late evening as Reimu and her companions stood in front of Hakurei Shrine, bidding farewell to Nanoha, Madoka and the rest. Although Nanoha, Madoka and the rest had been staying at Gensokyo for a day and a half they had been visiting various places and met every Gensokyo's residents that did not attend the banquet at the Scarlet Mansion last night, including meeting Hieda No Akyuu, Motoori Kosuzu and Kamishirasawa Keine.

"Thank you so much for letting me read most of your books, miss Patchouli. I appreciate it," Yuuno said.

"You're welcome. It's just to return the favor," Patchouli replied.

"I hope you'll be visiting us again and play with Flan. She seemed to enjoy it," Remilia said as she looked at Nanoha and Sayaka.

"Ah... Okay... Sure..." Both Nanoha and Sayaka replied with a small nervous laugh. Homura, Fate and their friends looked at both Nanoha and Sayaka, wondering what sort of games that they played with Flandre that had made them hesitated to give an answer.

"Here are some foods and drinks for you all to eat," Sakuya said as she handed over a basket to Vita.

"Thank you," Vita said.

"I guess this is good-bye then," Hayate said in a slightly sad tone.

"Aww, don't be sad. It's not like we won't be able to meet each other again," Marisa said. "Right, Reimu?"

"Why are you asking me?" Reimu asked.

"You're the one who allowed them to enter Gensokyo next time," Alice said. Reimu did not respond to Alice.

"U-um, t-thank you so much for helping me, m-miss Reimu. I'm sorry that y-you've troubled yourself just for m-me," Madoka still stuttered as she spoke.

"Like I said, it's no big deal," Reimu said. "One more thing, you don't have to be too formal with all of us because we're friends."

"O-okay, miss... I mean... R-Reimu," Madoka replied.

"Mami, are you sure you'll be staying here?" Oriko asked.

"Yes, because I don't think it'll not be the same at the outside world without you all," Mami replied.

"You mean it'll not be the same if Alice isn't around," Kyoko said while she put her hands behind her head. Mami's face became red with full of embarrassment the moment she heard Kyoko.

"But you'll be also leaving Mitakihara and Kizamino with Oriko and Kirika right?" Sayaka asked in a teasing tone.

"Shut up! It's not like you're not leaving for Mid-Childa yourself," Kyoko rebuked.

"You can follow Oriko as long as you don't trouble her," Kirika said with a smug.

"Shut up you!"

"Sayaka, you're also leaving Mitakihara!?" Nanoha seemed surprised.

"Well… yeah," Sayaka shrugged. "I mean, I'm kinda lonely since everyone is leaving. I'm going to explain to my mom and dad that I'll attend a school at Mid-Childa."

"Maybe you can go to school at Uminari," Nanoha said.

"I'll pass," Sayaka smiled.

"You just don't want to leave Chrono," Kyoko teased, trying to return the favor.

"D-d-d-d-dummy!" Sayaka covered Kyoko's mouth while trying to hide her red face from Chrono. Chrono seemed to take a hint from Kyoko's statement, but he was unsure of what exactly she meant.

"You'll also be leaving Mitakihara?" Fate asked Oriko.

"Yes, because I feel that I can lead a new life at Mid-Childa," Oriko replied.

"I know you will. Everyone who are living there are very nice," Nanoha said. Oriko smiled as she looked at Nanoha who gave her hope.

"How about you, Madoka?" Shamal asked.

"I-I'll be staying with miss Lindy from now on," Madoka replied as she clinged at Lindy, like a small child would. Everyone could not blame her current demeanor since she had been through a lot of tough times that had made her felt unconfident.

"And how about you?" Vita asked Homura.

"I'll be leaving Mitakihara and I'll also be staying at Mid-Childa. The city had filled my heart with grudge and hatred, so the best way is to leave the city," Homura said.

"We'll help you with everything that you and the others need then," Fate said.

"Thank you."

"Thank you so much for lots of various food supplies along with its machine called the fridge that you gave us, miss Lindy," Reimu said.

"You're welcome. Just consider that as your payment," Lindy replied with a smile.

"Those food supplies should be able to make us at least live an easy life," Marisa said.

"You bet it will," Arf said.

"Oh, before I forget..." Alice trailed off as she took out a magic device out from her pocket. "Here's your magic device that you let us use, miss Lindy."

"You can keep it as a momento," Lindy said.

"Really!? Cool!" Marisa was the one who showed her excitement more than Reimu and the others. Reimu only sighed as she watched Marisa fiddled with her device.

"I guess it's time to leave," Chrono said.

"I agree," Lindy said. Nanoha, Madoka and the rest gathered at one place before they bowed slightly towards Mami, Reimu and her companions. "We'll see you again sometime soon."

"Bye-bye," Mami waved at them, followed by Reimu and the rest. Zafira used his dimension transfer magic to transfer all of them to the Arthra.

As soon as the magic circle died down, the chattering was immediately replaced by the rustling sound of the leaves that were swept by the wind against the stone pathway. Mami, Reimu and the others looked at the evening sky while Nanoha, Madoka and the others looked at Gensokyo from the outer space, as if they were still looking at each other. All of them felt like everything that had happened was a fantasy that had never happened in the first place. Nevertheless everything that they experienced a month ago up till now had embedded deep inside their memories, serving as something that they could not forget for their whole life after that evening. They believed that the moment they wake up first thing the morning the next day, it will be a normal day for the first time for all of them.


End file.
